Lottery Fever
by mynameislizzie
Summary: Naomi and Emily haven't seen each other since THAT kiss in middle school. Now they meet in very unusual circumstances. Naomi's just won the Euro Lottery and Emily is her new best friend Lots of smut and drugs. Normal Skins stuff really. If you like my stuff, you might want to give it a try?
1. Chapter 1

**Surely she can't be starting another story, I hear you say. Well, Swollen Property has run its course. Rainy Days has reached an impasse (and when you read the next chapter, up in a week, you'll know its not a happy pause) so I thought I'd flesh out this idea, I had some time ago, but never got round to doing anything with. Whether its any good or not, you'll be the judge, but as this section of FF is a bit quiet nowadays, I thought I'd do my bit to keep it alive. Oh, and if you're not reading Sky Coloured Water already, you should be. Its a slow burn, rich in period detail and repressed emotion. Give it a try. I did, and I didn't regret it.**

**OK, this is told in alternate POV's, as is my want, so we're starting with Naomi. There is some hetero sex in this chapter, which I think is necessary, but don't worry, its definitely a Naomily story. Oh, and its an M...so expect a fair bit of graphic smut, drug use and dark humour. I don't own Skins, but I reckon I love it more than its creators.**

Naomi

"For fucks sake Freddie...have you even got off the couch today, you waster" I shout as I struggle through the grimy front door into our flat. The fucking lift has broken down again, and 10 floors with four bags of shopping is not my idea of healthy exercise after a busy shift at the supermarket.

Freddie looks over his shoulder at me as I finally dump the bulging bags onto the floor and glare at him. I wonder for the thousandth time why I'm living with him at all. We weren't even that friendly at college. He was too busy eye fucking, and then actually fucking Effy Stonem. I, on the other hand, made the catastrophic decision to let James Cook shag me over a teachers desk after the mockery they called student elections. Three months later, I'm a girl in trouble, with an entirely unwanted little Cook growing inside me, and Freddie and Effy had embarked on their doomed affair.

I don't remember what came first, my miscarriage or Effys suicide. Either way, the world got totally fucked up for both of us pretty quickly. Freddie descended into morose depression and untold quantities of super strength skunk. I tried to deal with my own demons (a frightening attraction to girls suddenly blossomed and an unhealthy reliance on alcohol to suppress those unwanted thoughts) by hanging out with the one person more fucked up than me. Freddie.

So here we were, four years later. Freddie never got over his addiction to extra long exotic cigarettes, and I buried my sexuality issues by letting him screw me occasionally and sharing the odd spliff. Sharing the flat gave me security, now my mum has fucked off to Thailand and gave Freddie somewhere to keep his stash and zombie out.

But I still have some of the old sparky Naomi Campbell in there somewhere, and finding him sprawling in my bathrobe on the couch, a full ashtray of roaches next to him, having probably used up all the hot water as well, brought it out in full force.

"One" I said dangerously quietly, which made him sit up straight.

"You DON'T wear my bathrobe. You cover it in ash and fuck knows what else...I've seen those sticky magazines under the bed"

He blanched at that. I don't think he knew I'd seen the lurid porn magazines. Actually, I'd read a couple. Just the lesbian ones...They weren't so sticky.

"Two...you don't use up all the fucking hot water because you can lay in the bath for an hour, smoking industrial quantities of the weed my wages paid for"

He blinked those Bambi eyes at me, but my expression told him that remorseful looks weren't going to cut it tonight.

"And three" I growled "I'm cold, tired and fucking pissed off, because yet again I come home to find cat shit on the doormat and YOU, you lazy fucker, still in the position I left you in 9 hours ago. Get off your skinny arse and make me a fucking cup of coffee before I find those nut crackers in the kitchen, and apply them to those useless objects hanging below your limp dick"

He probably hadn't moved from the couch and the TV all day, except for the odd piss and Red Bull refill, but he moved then all right. I got an entirely unwanted glimpse of the package I had been threatening to crush as he hurdled the back of the sofa in his haste to pacify me.

Two hours later, he was back on the couch, but then so was I. A hot bath, heated up lasagne, three big glasses of chilled white wine and one of Freddies 'special' roll ups and I had calmed down. Freddie was next to me, this time in his own bathrobe, and I allowed his arm to hold me against him. The TV spewed out mindless reality porn at us, before I made him stick a DVD on instead. The Hunger Games 2 started, and I let my eyes feast on Katniss Everdeen in a succession of revealing outfits.

I should say I suppose, that my lesbian tendencies go back a bit further than I have admitted. There was THAT snog in the garden at some lamo party when I was 14. The slap across the face I got from the girls twin sister was a price well worth paying for that 30 seconds of bliss. God, she was a great snogger.. The four months of lesbian digs and social exclusion from my so called 'friends' afterwards, wasn't.

I had a (very) short affair with a French girl I met on holiday. But apart from that, I pretty much suppressed my urges and went with the flow. Which meant enduring acne, bad breath, bristles and rough fingers all through my adolescence. Cook had no idea he was the guy who took my virginity. I never told him, and after the news of my pregnancy, he avoided me like the plague anyway. But Freddie turned out to be a gentler, more considerate lover...at least in those days...and so I drifted into this strange relationship.

We have the apartment now, unfortunately, as I've said, on the 10th floor of one of Bristol's ugly tower blocks. We pay the council £100 a week and Johnny White another £50 to live here. No one said life was fair, did they?

"Babe" Freddie said slowly

"Hmmm?" I murmured, busy watching Katnisses tits bounce prettily as she walked along in another tight evening gown.

I felt him shift and realised the sight of Jennifer's tits was having the same effect on my 'boyfriend' as it was on me. His hard on poked me in the back, and I suppressed a sigh. Fuck, now he was horny. Just when I thought he might drop off to sleep on the couch, and let me sneak off to the bedroom to reacquaint myself with the small battery powered friend I keep locked away for those sort of opportunities.

"Mmmm" I said, hoping he was only half interested. Sometimes, if he had overdone the sensimilia, he would drop off during the heavy petting stage. Well, you live in hope.

No such luck, of course. He slid his hand into the top of my toweling robe and cupped my breast possessively. Unfortunately, Jennifer's tits had already worked their magic on my nipples. He thumbed one and, as usual, got his wires crossed big time.

"Someone wants some Freddie loving" he slurred, nuzzling my ear. I shuddered, but not for the reasons he thought I did. Someone actually wanted to play with another pair of tits. But as always, luck had deserted some a me where along the line.

Fuck it, I thought. There's no way I want him banging away on top of me tonight. Drugs always made it hard for him to ejaculate. I'd spent too many sweaty nights, with him humping me endlessly, eyes closed in concentration, as he played out whatever fucked up fantasy he had going to make himself come. I wasn't wasting the nice bath I'd just had again.

"Freddie?" I said in what I hoped was a seductive drawl "Would you like me to...?"

His eyes widened as his drugged mind registered the offer. A blow job was a rare treat for him, so I knew he would never refuse. Its not something I enjoy much, more a chore I perform under protest, but its usually quick, and my gag reflex is slight. I reckoned less than five minutes would do it. I moved my wine glass an inch closer to me. I'd be needing it soon.

His smile broadened as I dropped onto the floor in front of him and opened his gown.

I grimaced again at the sight of a hard on at close range. Fuck, they are truly ugly things. I closed my eyes, thought of a naked Katniss and opened wide...

I was right...Katniss hadn't even reached the arena before his hand tightened in my hair and his back arched off the couch. Two swallows and mission accomplished. I reached for the wine and drained the glass in one. His goofy grin told me he was a happy bunny.

Ten minutes later, his contented snores echoed in the silent room. Jennifer was on pause, and I silently padded out of the bathroom, having given the electric toothbrush a vigorous work out (in my mouth, just in case you wondered) Time for bed and my little AA powered friend...

XXX

A hundred miles away, two things were happening.

A large mainframe computer was sending an electronic signal to a National Lottery account. The signal resulted in two actions. One, an automatic text was sent to a mobile phone. The message read "Congratulations. You need to check your lottery account for good news" The other was a bank transfer of £22,458,999.18 to an escrow account ready for the payout.

The other thing happening was in bar in Chelsea. A petite redhead was just leaving. If anyone had been interested enough to look, they would have seen she was in tears. a tall dark haired girl inside the bar was turning to her companion and smirking.

"Shouldn't you go after her?" the other woman said

"Nope" the tall girl smiled "Emily is such a drama queen. I told her at the beginning that we weren't exclusive. Silly bitch gets all tearful when she sees me with someone. Now...where did you say you lived?"

The other woman smirked too then.

"Just round the corner, Mandy...coming?"

They both grinned wolfishly and downed the remainder of their drinks.

XXX

At 12 am, two more things happened. The text message led light began to flash on two mobile phones. One in Bristol, one in London.

The first went unanswered, at least for now. Naomi Campbell slept the sleep only a powerful self induced orgasm gives. Her phone continued to flash its message from Camelot. It wouldn't be until morning that its life changing message would be read.

The other text was read immediately. Emily Fitch grabbed the phone as it vibrated. She stifled a hiss of disappointment that it wasn't from...her.

"Urgent - FAO E. Fitch. Lottery winner, location Bristol. £22,000,000 plus. You need to be at Temple Meads at 10 am tomorrow to assist winner. Usual conditions apply. Message ends"

Emily fell back onto her tear stained pillow and stifled the sob which threatened to escape. Another fucking lottery winner to babysit. Probably fat, 45 and male. Fucking cosmic.

She sighed again and pulled her ipad from the bedside cabinet. Another visit to the Train-line site beckoned.

XXX

Emily

Fucking Bristol. Always raining, or just about to. I remember it from middle school. When Katie and I were forced into matching burgundy uniforms and white socks. We looked like bookends. That was before Katie laid waste to half the male population of the town, and I got caught kissing that dark haired girl with blue eyes in the back garden of Matt Sawyers party.

Typical Katie of course. She started dropping her knickers for guys before the ink was dry on her 15th birthday cards. Virgin Queen Emily swaps spit with one girl and all hell breaks loose. Next thing I know, Mum and Dad are booking removal vans. We ended up in darkest Essex. Change of schools, change of friends, change of county. I don't know what universe my mother inhabits, but the chances of me being 'corrupted' in Essex were at least as high as they were in Bristol.

Just gave Katie a few more stiff dicks to sample, thats all. I was pretty much a fucking nun until I was 17. It took a holiday in Greece to change that. Turned out a lot of the pissed up English and Dutch girls over there were quite partial to fanny. Had a fucking brilliant two weeks. Katie got Chlamydia and I got the best oral sex of my life (at least up to now) from a tall blonde German girl called Inga. I came back with a sun tan and assorted nail marks on my back.

Anyway. After Uni and a couple of months not really knowing what I wanted to do, I got a call from an agency. A year later and I'm working for the National Lottery. My accountancy degree means that my mathematics are up to scratch, and this job is a doddle most of the time.

I act as a sort of liaison between new lottery winners (only if its over £5,000,000...there's a hierarchy, even for lottery millionaires) and the suits who will be managing their wealth. Because you DO need the suits. Most people think, if they get lucky and find £10 million in their bank account on Sunday morning, that everything will be easy. But its not.

Forgotten relatives and ex partners come out of the woodwork. People you thought were friends turn out to be arseholes who'll sell a story about you playing hide the finger with your best friend back in college. The papers dig around for dirt on you, and everyone wants a piece of that good fortune.

Add to that the sheer fright that sort of money gives most people, and believe me, you need someone neutral to rely on. Someone who can give you advice and just...listen...when you doubt your sanity.

Well, thats me. Employed by Camelot, but working for you...you lucky lottery millionaire you.

I hadn't even opened the email from HO yet. It held the name and address of the person(s) who had won this weeks Euro Lottery, and a phone number for them.

I shivered again in the early morning chill. Fucking Bristol, I thought again.

I found a small, but clean cafe a few yards from the station, ordered a large mocha with extra whipped cream and chocolate and opened my ipad wallet. Right, lets see who is going to get the surprise of their life today. I prayed to myself that it wasn't a syndicate. Half the workforce of the local sorting office had won a year ago, and I nearly cut my wrists over their endless bickering. Fuck, please not a syndicate.

The email was slow in opening, and I got the time to take a long swallow of rich mocha first. Just as well I had swallowed it. When the name popped up on the screen, I choked back a laugh.

Naomi fucking Campbell? Thats a joke, right? The only Naomi Campbell I knew was an aging supermodel with anger management issues. And she didn't live in poxy Bristol...

There was something nagging at the back of my mind, but for the life of me, I couldn't place it. Naomi Campbell?...what was familiar about it, other than tabloid headlines?.

By the time I had finished my mocha and called a cab, I was no closer to finding out. I packed away my ipad into my smart leather briefcase and stood up as the cab tooted outside.

"Alfred Road" I said as the back door swung open. "Flats at the top of the hill?"

The journey was uneventful. Bristol looked as cold and grimy as I remembered it. The cab swung up the road and pulled up beside a small playing field. A whiteish block of flats with some lurid graffiti on its side loomed over us. I paid the driver with a ten pound note, not waiting for the change. Expense accounts are a wonderful thing, aren't they?

I knew that the winner hadn't responded to the auto text sent out after the draw. Otherwise I would probably be meeting her in a hotel. People get so excited, finding out, that they go into a tail spin and just have to get out of the house. No, this winner was going to get a very nice Saturday morning surprise.

The fucking lift was broken, of course, and I cursed the insistence of my boss that 4 inch heels were appropriate for business wear. 10 fucking floors. By the time I got to the actual flat, I had to stand for three minutes, getting my breath back.

I stepped forward finally and just avoided stepping in a small curly pile of fresh cat shit. My nose wrinkled. Jesus, I hoped she wouldn't be 17 stone and covered in tattoos.

The door opened eventually, as I stood to one side of the glistening poo, trying to hold my breath. It creaked open on rusty hinges and a face peered at me myopically.

"Yeah"

Well, unless Naomi Campbell was a drag act stage name, this streak of olive skinned piss wasn't her. Scratching his balls unattractively, he stared at me as if I was a visitor from another planet. I suppose I was, to some extent. I doubt many smartly dressed strangers endure 10 floors of wee smelling staircases to knock on this door.

"Err...I've come to see Naomi...Naomi Campbell?" I tried.

His eyes screwed up. By the smell coming out of the flat, they were no strangers to marijuana, so I guessed his synapses were a bit slow on the firing stakes.

"Is she at home?" I asked sweetly.

He blinked again.

"Bed...sleep" he muttered

Great, now what, I thought.

"Could I possibly come in. I have some news for her thats important?"

The door swung open and I followed his tatty underpants into the flat.

As we got to the lounge, where I could see the remains of last nights tv dinner, wine and what looked suspiciously like the source of the weed smell in the ashtray, a door opened to the side of me, and a woman came out,

She was naked from the waist up, with a bath towel wrapped round her lower half. She was vigorously toweling platinum blonde hair, which obscured her face. I just had time to register the fact that she had fucking gorgeous tits, when she spoke from behind the towel.

"Who was that at the door Freds?"

I coughed gently. Still, I'm ashamed to say, enjoying the view. Fuck, they were lovely tits...

The towel dropped and the face behind it was revealed.

Now, I was expecting her surprise. What I wasn't expecting was to be as gob smacked as she was.

"Emily?" She gasped...at about the same time I said "Naomi?"

I vaguely heard Freddie asking how the fuck we knew each other, but it was more of an annoying background hum.

Once we'd got over the mutual paralysis, I got myself together. She was holding the towel across her chest by now, and I had a small moment to regret that. But there was no mistaking the recognition in those cobalt eyes. It might have been years ago, and her hair definitely hadn't been shimmering blonde, but it WAS her. Now the name registered. A party, too much Pinot Grigio, the garden. Laughing with her about my sister. Then a look...then another one. Then a kiss which I relived for years afterwards. A kiss interrupted by a volcanic Katie.

The guy in the room with us might as well have been a standard lamp, for all the attention we were paying him. I heard him cough politely, but my eyes wouldn't budge from hers. I saw her swipe her bottom lip with her pink tongue, and wondered if she was mirroring my thoughts, reliving that kiss. I mentally shook myself. Of course she wasn't. Isn't there a flaw in your logic, my accountants brain nagged? Tall, dark skinned and definitely male. Adolescent lesbian kisses aside, she was obviously straight now.

I cleared my throat and forced my voice to remain steady.

"Err... I have something important to discuss with you Naomi" I said firmly. More firmly than I felt. "Is there somewhere we can talk...in private?"

Again the cough from behind me. Lover boy wasn't taking the hint, and I suppressed the urge to tell him to fuck off.

Naomi seemed to break out of her trance at the same time. She blinked, then spoke over my shoulder.

"Freds...would you mind making us all a coffee?"

I heard him grunt, but to be honest, I could care fucking less. I was still reliving that moment years ago, and part of me didn't want to break the spell.

Naomi smiled at me and I smiled back. God, she has a pretty smile, I thought, apropos nothing at all.

"Well" she smirked "I don't usually greet my guests half naked... So as you've seen more of me than you really should have, do you want to come into the bedroom while I get dressed properly. Its not as if I have anything to hide anymore, is it?"

Fuck, I thought...she's flirting with me. I thanked whatever lucky star I had woken up under yesterday that I had been picked for this job.

I followed her into the bedroom and closed the door behind me. Disappointingly, I could see evidence of male co occupation. Bang went my theory of a platonic friendship between her and skater boi.

"So whats this news then?" she asked, dropping the towel from her hands and giving me another welcome chance to perve on her.

"Have you checked your phone messages today?" I said in a strangled voice as she hunted for a bra to put on. Kill me now, my libido pleaded, its never gonna get better than this...

"No" she said distractedly, holding up a plain blue bra in one hand and a pretty white lace one in the other.

"In that case, I think you'd better sit down" I said.

She did, still holding the bras. I looked over her shoulder, aiming my next sentence at the wall. Jesus, if she doesn't cover those tits instantly, my brain screamed, I swear I'm going to wet my knickers here.

I sat carefully on the very edge of the bed.

"Naomi. I work for Camelot... The National Lottery?"

I could see puzzlement, then a growing understanding in her eyes.

"You've won quite a lot of money. Millions" I said and watched the colour drain from her face. Its nothing new, most big winners look as though they are about to faint when they get the news. I've got used to insisting they sit down first.

"This is a joke, right?" She quavered "Fucking Freddie has put you up to this"

I kept my face neutral. Again, quite a standard response.

"No joke Naomi" I said seriously "Once we see the ticket, and your proof of ID, I can take you to our regional office, where the confirmation will be given to you in writing"

"How much?" She whispered. I was ready for that one.

I took out my ipad and keyed in my security code. I punched a couple of keys and turned the screen round to face her.

"A bit over twenty two million pounds" I said slowly. "Naomi...you're a very rich woman"

I get all sorts of responses to the actual figure. Disbelief, shock, hysterical laughter. I don't often get a naked (the bottom towel sort of detached itself as she flung herself at me) woman hugging and kissing me. I don't need to tell you, I'm sure, how difficult I found it to stay professional with a stunning naked female showering me with kisses?

Eventually she pulled back and noticed that she was straddling me. The flush on my cheeks probably told her more than mere words, but I tried anyway.

"Well...I've had worse reactions"

She giggled nervously and blushed herself. Fuck, could she get any cuter?

Just as I detached her arms from around my neck and managed to sit up straight, the bedroom door opened. The stoned guy stood there with a tea tray carrying 3 mugs of coffee. His expression was a picture.

"What the fuck is going on here?" he asked angrily. Naomi and I looked at him for a second before bursting into laughter. I fucking love my job...

**Well guys, worth carrying on with? You tell me!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two then, because you seem to be gluttons for punishment! So Naomi's a big lottery winner, Emily is her professional mentor and they have history. But there's a big lanky fly in the ointment. Freddie. And he's not going to get any less irritating, I'm afraid. At least not yet. Smut in this chapter, some real, some imaginary. I'll leave you to decide which is more acceptable...**

**Thanks again to my lovely reviewers. You make it all worthwhile! I don't own Skins, or the characters. Life just isn't fair, is it?**

Naomi.

Its been a week now, but its still not sunk in. After I disentangled myself from an embarrassed Emily and wrapped myself back into my bath towel, simultaneously reassuring Freddie that I hadn't been actually trying to screw our visitor (my treacherous mind kept nagging me to admit that her proximity, and the tiny bit of history we shared had made THAT prospect more than appealing) we got down to business. I dragged my phone out from under the bed...avoiding an even more embarrassing moment when I almost picked up my discarded pink vibrator instead...I brought up the text from Camelot and then my lottery account, with its earth shattering news. Its not every day that you see a credit balance of over 22 million quid, is it?

Then, after I'd screamed a bit more, reassured Freds that no, it wasn't an elaborate hoax, for the twentieth time, there was a frantic hunt for my passport, driving licence photo card and birth certificate. Any one of which would have sufficed, especially as the pretty brunette helping me search was perfectly well aware of who I was, but anyway, it doesn't hurt to be well prepared, does it?

The next 24 hours were a complete head fuck. I got dressed (sadly alone this time) with my mind spinning like a top. We were taken to an anonymous office building in town, which turned out to be the Lottery regional office. I was photographed, had my ID checked and had to enter my password for my lottery account into a computer, then asked if I wanted publicity (No fucking way) and if I was happy to continue having Emily Fitch as my liaison exec for the next 6 weeks. The words Pope and Catholic occurred to me. First because she was drop dead gorgeous (all my suppressed longings for female company seemed to have resurfaced) But also because I wanted a face I knew to guide me through what I knew would be the madness to follow.

The no publicity bit caused a bit of friction between me and Freddie. He was all for telling the world. Emily told him that if he had a completely blameless past and was happy for every mistake he had ever made to be salivated over by the tabloids for weeks, then fine. Otherwise...

He took the hint.

Emily and I also had a quiet moment, when Freds was in the loo. She told me that her job was to look after MY interests, as my name was on the ticket. Any arrangements, and financial settlements I made with Freddie were my decisions to make. That made me think.

Freddie had been good to me. Especially in the old days. He had got me through some dark times, and I was grateful for that. But we had been coasting for over a year now. Shagging him was more of a chore than a delight. Did I see a future for us together? Hadn't really thought about it was the honest answer. But I owed him, and I was never gonna be a cunt about the money. I realised I had some big decisions to make in the next few weeks.

And then there was Emily.

She made it clear that her prime role was to be my mentor, not my friend. But fuck, it was difficult to separate out the feeling that I had been given a second chance to get to know her, from the fact that she hadn't actually volunteered for this gig.

Anyway. After the formalities, I found myself with a fucking Coutts bank account (apparently I am now a 'high nett worth individual') and in my bag was a shiny new debit card and £5000 in cash...for immediate needs...

Emily checked us into the Cadbury House Hilton, the smartest country house hotel in Bristol...she said that would probably be preferable to staying in our tower block 'heaven' and although my mother would probably scream sell out to the skies, I had to agree. Piles of curly cat shit, or room service and Egyptian Cotton sheets...hmmm, tough call.

After a couple of days, even Freddie stopped complaining there wasn't a kebab shop for miles. Every whim was catered for. Freds and I were in the best suite, with stunning views over the surrounding countryside. We ate kedgeree and grilled mushrooms for breakfast, lunched on pate and exquisitely prepared chicken dishes and dined on £60 steaks and bottles of the finest french wines. We shopped for clothes on the internet, and uniformed flunkies delivered them to our suite.

Emily was staying in a standard room one floor below us. She let us have a leisurely breakfast, then it was all endless meetings with accountants and financial advisers. She was by my side at all times. Which didn't go down well with Freds at all. Once he realised that this was going to be our life from now on, he sort of tuned out. I caught him on the phone to our friendly local dealer the third night. He didn't seem to understand that a well known drug dealer turning up at a posh hotel, waving a baggie, might raise a few eyebrows.

Still, at least him having to go out to collect some weed meant that I had a couple of spare hours to spend with Emily.

We never actually discussed THAT kiss, but it was always in the background. I remembered the way her eyes had lingered on my naked body when she gave me the good news about my win. That definitely wasn't a professional appraisal. I dug a bit, to find out what her situation was nowadays, but she was cagey as fuck.

"This is all about you Naomi...not me" she smiled prettily "Its about how you deal with this money so that it brings you happiness, not problems"

I whined a bit at that

"But we're gonna be hanging out for the next few weeks...can't we be friends too? Friends tell each other all about themselves"

Her eyes dipped, and she suddenly seemed very interested in her hands.

"If you're asking if I'm still gay...the answer is yes" she murmured, not looking up. The fact that I could see the flush on her neck informed me that she was uncomfortable talking about herself. Trouble is, it made me even more determined to find out more.

"And...are you..._with_ someone...?" I persisted, and the flush deepened.

She looked up and regarded me seriously before answering.

"No one serious" she grimaced "I seem to attract the unfaithful and manipulative type. Must be me, I guess"

I covered her hand with mine. She jumped as if to pull away, but then let my hand stay where it was. Still her eyes held mine. Suddenly the air in the room seemed to get thinner. I felt like I did all those years ago. I tore my eyes away from hers and looked at her lips. Lips I had kissed before. Lips I wanted to kiss again.

"Naomi..." She said in warning "I don't think..."

"Don't think..." i said softly "Do..."

Our heads moved closer and the electricity crackled in the space between us. No guy I had ever kissed had made me feel this sort of anticipation. I knew in that moment that the money had changed one thing irrevocably, I was going to be true to myself from now on... I wasn't straight. Not even a little bit.

A fraction more movement, and I could feel her breath on my skin. Her eyes held a strange expression, a mixture of want and fear. I wanted to kiss her so much I felt dizzy with desire.

"Kiss me" I said breathlessly "Or I think I might just fucking die here"

She blinked and I saw her expression change. The fear was replaced by want. My skin tingled as she brushed my lips with hers. My hands started to move up her arms. I'd never been so turned on in my life, and then...

"**Babe**!"

The yell from the suite door jerked us both backwards, like puppets with our strings cut. If Freddie hadn't been quite so distracted, trying to balance a litre of JD and a pack of 200 fags, we would have been busted on the spot.

Emily jumped up and went to stand over by the window. I wrapped my arms around myself to stop the shivering which was starting in my legs. Fuck...what perfect timing, I thought bitterly...almost, but not quite.

After Freddie bustled through the lounge, dropping the Jack and Benson's on one of the Regency chairs, Emily turned back into the room with an entirely fake smile on her face.

"Right...well thats me then guys" she said brightly "I've got paperwork to finish. Have a good night, and I'll see you in the morning?"

Freddie grunted and flashed her one of his "and who the fuck are you anyway' looks.

"I'll see you to the door" I muttered and stood up before Freds could protest. We walked to the door silently, but the tension between us was tangible.

"Good night Emily" I said, a little too loudly. It sounded brittle, even to me.

"Good night Naomi" Emily said in a small voice "I might not be in a relationship...but you are...this can't happen again...OK?"

She didn't wait for an answer, and as the door closed behind her, I gritted my teeth, turning back into the room.

XXX

Emily

I should have listened to my head. My stupid heart always leads me down this path. First hope, anticipation and temporary sexual satisfaction. Then the shit hits the proverbial. I should have known it would turn to ratshit. Its not as if my track record doesn't give any hints, is it?

Even from that first kiss with Naomi, back when I was 15 and anything seemed possible, it had always gone wrong. OK, I'd never seen her since. But there was Sasha, who broke my heart in College. Then Sarah at Uni. Really fell for her bullshit, didn't you Emsy? Finding her sucking off some stud...in the fucking room we shared and loved in, was quite the clue...not absolutely gay then? And Mandy...oh yeah, Mandy. At least with her there was no pretense about being faithful. I was an occasional shag, convenient on weekends when no one else was available. And I would let her do anything to me in bed. She liked that.

But this was a cluster fuck beyond anything even I could imagine.

I'm not talking about almost being caught snogging a lottery winner. I'm not even talking about the next few days, which started off...awkward... but got better. For the first 24 hours I tried my best to keep a respectable distance between us. Freddie was usually around, so it was easier to pretend nothing had actually happened. The more time that passed, the simpler it was to put it down to momentarily weakness and move on.

OK, I had admitted to myself that I fancied her. More than fancied. I liked her eyes, her hair...the way the corner of her mouth twitched when she was struggling to contain a giggle. I liked her smell, the way her hands moved...the way she stole glances at me when she thought Freddie wasn't looking. There was a whole lot I liked about Naomi Campbell. But then someone else liked them too. And Freddie might have been dim, but he wasn't blind.

We all went out for a meal together on the third night after our 'almost' kiss. Freddie was actually quite funny when he wasn't stoned, and I relaxed a bit. Bad move.

Too many glasses of Crystal, and the relaxed atmosphere of the hotel night club led to...little things happening... If I had been completely sober, I might have spotted the looks Freddie was giving her and me during our banter. But I wasn't...and I didn't.

Freddie was off somewhere when Naomi finally reached over, putting her hand over mine, just like she had the other night. We were both pleasantly pissed, so the slight slur in her words was understandable.

"You know I really, _really_ fancy you, don't you?" she said, holding my eyes with those intense blue orbs.

"Naomi..." I answered "We've talked about this...you have a partner...remember?"

She shook her head deliberately, the way half drunk people do and picked up her glass with the hand which wasn't pinning mine to the table.

"Me and Freds..." she started "We sort of drift along...have done since we were kids at school...but" and her eyes pinned me again "I feel something for you...always have done. Ever since that kiss. Haven't you ever thought about how things might have worked out if your homicidal sister hadn't seen us and fucking clocked me? "

"Now and again" I lied. Only about every week of my life was closer to being accurate.

"Tell me you don't feel something for me" she whispered, stroking the back of my hand with her finger. "Be honest..."

"Jesus, Naomi" I choked "You're making it really hard for me...I'm supposed to be professional about this. I could lose my job...Freddie could find out..., get me fired"

"I hear you talking Emily" she said slowly "But I don't hear you saying no"

I looked away from her for a moment. I couldn't think straight with her eyes boring a hole in my soul.

"Look" I said finally, turning my head to face her again. "If we'd met under any other circumstances... if I wasn't working for you...if you weren't living with someone...and a man at that...the answers yes...I do like you...fancy you...but..."

"Buts are for sheep and goats" she said cornily, and the sides of her mouth turned up in the way that already had the power to disarm me, even after this short time.

"Look" I tried again, but she squeezed my hand and interrupted.

"No...you look" she said firmly "Let me sort out the Freddie problem. I think a seven figure sum in his bank account is more a priority for him than hanging on to me, don't you? Will you just promise me something?"

I nodded

"This...mentor thing...lasts for 6 weeks altogether, yeah?"

I nodded again

"So...after that...you won't technically be in breach of any of those professional ethics you're so fond of quoting, right?"

"No..." I said eventually, if only to stop her thinking I had lost the power of speech.

"OK" she grinned. "Its a deal...you get to be miss businesslike for 4 more weeks. Then you and me...maybe we could go on a date...or something?"

What could I say? She was right. I fancied her, she fancied me. With Freddie solvent and out of the picture, who knows what could happen?

A shite storm from hell, thats what could and did happen.

Freddie came back from wherever, and the evening wound up. Naomi gave me a sly grin over his shoulder as the lift doors closed on me. They went up to the top floor, and I to my own room below.

A couple more days passed. They spent money, endured boring finance meetings and I chaperoned them through it all. We kept our distance with only the odd eye fuck to spoil it.

On the Saturday, I went with Naomi to the Porsche dealership in town, and we ordered her a brand new 911 turbo in canary yellow. Not my colour of choice, but then, I'm not a lottery winner. She was all touchy feely, there and back, and I started to think we might get away with it. Fuckwit that I am.

But in reception, after Naomi had disappeared upstairs to change, I got a tug on the arm from a very unwelcome source.

"A word please, Emily?"

Freddie stood there, glowering at me unpleasantly. He smelt of bourbon. But then he usually did from 11am onwards.

I plastered on my best fake smile and sat with him in the bar while he drank neat bourbon from a tall glass.

"It won't work, you know" he said flatly.

"What won't?" I answered, heart starting to beat a little faster...we'd been so careful...what did he know?

"Don't play fucking dumb Emily...we both know what I mean. I've seen the looks. The little touches, the secret smiles. I've been here before, you know?. I know Naomi likes the girls occasionally. Its a bit of a turn on actually. She gets all hot and bothered, flirting, making eyes and imagining what a night naked with another woman would be like. But she always chickens out in the end..._always_"

I swallowed hard. Fuck.

"And do you know the best bit?" he smirked nastily

I blinked but didn't answer him.

"After she's got herself into a state...all worked up and wet...She comes home to me...and she's so fucking up for it...she's gagging for my cock before we even say hello. Best fucks I've ever had..after she's been...primed for me...screams the place down when she comes...shame you'll never hear it"

He sneered at my shocked expression..I couldn't keep my face neutral any more.

"So be a good girl" he said "Stop imagining her running off into the sunset with you. Ain't gonna happen babe"

And with that, he swallowed the last of his Jim Beam and got up.

"See you in the bar later then Emily?"

I stared into space after he left. I really had been kidding myself, hadn't I?

XXX

Naomi.

It took me fucking ages to get ready. Freddie came up to the suite half an hour after I got back from the Porsche dealer.

My fucking dream car! I was so hyper. Emily had been amused at my choice of colour, but she giggled at my enthusiasm and let me throw my arms round her neck after the deal was done. It was going to take 6 weeks to deliver, but what the heck? I had just spent £100,000 on a fucking CAR!

My mother spent less than that on our house...

I was on a natural high when I got back. Me and Emily seemed to be heading in the right direction. She even let me hold her hand in the taxi on the way back. The money was going to make lots of things possible. I decided I was going to tell Freddie tonight that we would be going our separate ways after this. I would transfer £2,000,000 into his bank account, which would keep him in booze and spliffs for life. He deserved better than a half arsed relationship anyway. Enough drifting for both of us. Time I took control.

I spent longer than usual in the shower, but then I don't normally get myself off with the shower head, imagining Emilys lips on me...her fingers inside me...her wet skin against mine...moaning into my mouth. When I came, I actually slumped to the floor with my fingers still inside myself. Christ, if this what its like in my mind...the real thing will kill me, I thought, as I staggered to my feet.

Well, that was the plan, anyway.

You know that old saying? "If you want to make God laugh..tell him your plans?"

Well he must be in hysterics now...

She was a bit off with both of us over dinner, and I couldn't get her to meet my eyes, even when Freddie went to the toilet. I ended up persuading her to come to the ladies with me after he got back. I wanted to know what had changed since this afternoon.

She tried to waffle, but I held her face in my hands and begged her to tell me what I'd done to upset her. In the end, her face stopped looking like a mask of indifference and she gripped my hands as they cupped her face.

"Tell me this isn't a game to you Naomi" she said, and her voice broke on the last word. I could see big tears brimming in those gorgeous chocolate eyes. I took a deep breath.

"I've never been more serious in my life" I said levelly "This isn't a game. I really like you. Look...I'm gonna tell Freddie tonight. Tell him he can have a couple of million...see the world, like he's always wanted to. I won't say anything about us...but..."

She nodded and pulled my face towards hers. At last, I thought, as for the first time in 7 years, I shared a sweet, tender kiss with Emily Fitch. It was everything I thought it would be. Full of promise and dark desire. My legs actually trembled as we finally separated. We looked at each other with eyes equally stunned. Fuck, she could kiss. Suddenly that ten minutes in the shower earlier felt like a pale imitation of what it would be like to have sex with Emily Fitch. My stomach, and places further south, clenched and another pair of expensive knickers needed changing.

When we got back to the bar Freddie was drinking...of course. A tall glass of bourbon stood in front of him, together with a tray full of brimming shots. About 20 fucking shots. He held up his glass as we approached.

"Welcome back ladies", he smirked " I think its well overdue for the lottery winners and their lovely minder to get fucking totally wasted!"

I should have fucking known. Freddie might look out of it most of the time, but even with his chronic weed problem, he had aced his A levels. He's no fool. But I am.

Two hours later, none of us were feeling any pain. Another two trays of shots had been consumed, and I had accepted his offer of a little white pill to 'give you a lift'.

Well it did that alright. Freddie always did know where to source the best gear. The E burned a hole in my drunkenness, leaving me with a delicious feeling of goodwill to all mankind. It was only 10 when we went upstairs. Emily had passed on the MDMA, but she was giggling too at Freddies lame jokes. When the lift got to Emilys floor she left us with a goofy grin. She had told me she didn't 'do' hangovers...but I had a feeling tomorrow would test that theory to the limit.

When we got upstairs, Freddie disappeared into the bathroom. While he was in there, I hunted for my phone to text something soppy to Emily, but I couldn't find it. But nothing could defeat my euphoria. The rush was still coming on in waves, and I felt like I had far too many clothes on. I stripped down to just my knickers and slipped into bed. Fuck it, I thought, I'll tell Freddie the bad news tomorrow...

XXX

Emily.

When my phone buzzed about ten minutes after I undressed and got into bed, after scrubbing my teeth and drinking a litre of water (my infallible hangover cure) I almost didn't pick it up. Probably Katie...or worst still, Mandy, after a random shag. But I picked it up anyway. Naomi, the caller ID said. I couldn't help the stupid grin that spread over my face at that. I opened the text.

"_Freddies out cold already. Come up to the suite in 15 minutes..I have a surprise for you. Naomi xxx"_

If I had a stupid smile at first, the one that now occupied my face was epic. I jumped out of bed and spent 10 of the 15 minutes showering and using up some of my favourite body lotion. My spine tingled at the thought of what she'd got planned. Drink and the proximity of naked Naomi clouded my judgment, your Honour...

Precisely 15 minutes later, I was exiting the lift and walking quickly towards the suite door. I lifted my hand to give a gentle knock, but it was open. Oh fuck, I thought, shes prepared well for this,

The lounge door was closed, so I made my way across the thick carpet of the lobby towards the bedroom. That door was ajar. Maybe Freddie had passed out on the couch and Naomi was in bed, waiting for me. My mouth dried at the prospect. It was dangerous, but suddenly I didn't care.

As the door swung open, I heard odd sounds from inside. My brain was about three seconds behind my ears, because of the alcohol, otherwise I would never have taken another step.

Two figures on the bed. Mercifully a sheet covered their nakedness. But there was no mistaking the identities. Or what they were doing.

The sheet only covered the bottom half of their bodies. Bodies that were joined in an oh so familiar pose. As I watched with horrified eyes, Freddie ground into the body beneath him. His skinny arse rotated and pumped rhythmically under the sheet. Her hands were gripping him tightly. One hand on his arse, urging him on...the other clawing at his back. She was making little uh uh noises in the back of her throat. The sort of noises women make when the guy who is fucking them is hitting just the right spot.

I felt the bile rise in my throat, and knew if I didn't get out of there in the next two seconds, I would projectile vomit over both of them. My ears only had time to register one last sound before I fled.

"Oh _fuck_ Freddie...just there...just like that...you're gonna make me _co_..."

I just made the corridor before upchucking in a very expensive Chinese urn.

XXX

Naomi

The morning sun cut a savage yellow shaft across my eyes as I turned over in bed. My first thought, as I groaned in agony was that a small army of head dwarfs were mining my skull for gold. It felt like several little pick axes were hammering away inside. I squinted against the brightness, and turned my aching head away from it. Bad move.

Not only did it hurt like a bitch, but I was greeted by the sight of an unconscious Freddie, completely naked, mouth open, snoring like a sailor. My stomach joined the protest my head had already started.

Then, as last nights events caught up with me, I temporarily forgot my ferocious hangover. Bollocks, I'd shagged him, hadn't I?

What started off as a lame attempt to salve my conscience by being nice to him, had turned into something quite different. The crafty bastard knew my tolerance to MDMA was screwed. I hadn't really taken it since college. With most people, it lowers inhibitions and makes you horny. With me, it just plain destroys them. After one particular party after my A levels, I had to disguise myself for a month after I found out I had been the meat in a rather adventurous sandwich between two male undergrads. I swore off it then. Fucking Freddie knew that.

When he came out of the shower last night, with that lopsided grin and slid in beside me, I knew what it meant. It started off as a chore...something for him to remember me by, when I dumped him this morning. But his sly touches and whispered filth excited me more than I was expecting. He knew just what buttons to press with me. No blow job brush off this time. By the time he was buried in me, thrusting slowly, teasing me beyond reason, he had me just where he wanted me.

"Let yourself go babe" he whispered

"Explore those dirty fantasies with me...I know you like girls too...imagine a pretty brunette is kneeling over you right now. Those perky little tits bouncing...her hot wet cunt inches from your tongue...you'd like that, wouldn't you Naoms...a pretty cunt for you to lick while I give you a good seeing to. Imagine it babe...the taste of her...the feel of her clit on your tongue...her moans"

I groaned in ecstasy. Oh fuck _yes_...Emilys skin, her taste, her breathless moans. Suddenly it was almost real as he thrust in and out of me. He hadn't given my fantasy partner a name...but I had,instantly. There was only one beautiful brunette I wanted above me.

I rarely came from straight sex with him. But with the drugs roaring through my system, and his hot words penetrating my mind, I let him have me. Soon enough, I could feel the familiar build up inside. I came hard.. Really hard. The ache between my legs began to compete with the one in my head.

Jesus, I thought finally. Emily... Then sleep claimed me...

Next morning.

Thank God she didn't know. I found myself rationalising it all in my thumping head. We weren't a couple...she knew I hadn't dumped Freddie yet...it was a sympathy shag, nothing more...never to be repeated. What pathetic excuses we give ourselves, huh?

None of it made me feel remotely OK with what I'd done. But if I held it together, did the dirty deed on Freddie this morning, it could all just be a sordid footnote to my dying relationship. No need for Emily to ever know, right...Right.

When I had drunk a full litre of mineral water, scrubbed myself in the shower for 10 minutes and let the super strength paracetamol do their magic, I began to feel almost human again. It was just after 8. I knew Emily would already be up.

I put on a pair of jogging bottoms with a new white tee, and scrunched my hair up in as good a pony tail as I could manage this early. Swiping a piece of dry toast from the breakfast tray which had magically appeared in the lounge while I was in the shower, I used the stairs to run down to Emilys floor.

I knocked on the door hard, and put on my best 'who, me?' face, waiting for the cheery "come in" I was used to...

When no answer came, I pushed at the door, which was surprisingly open. I walked into the room, which appeared to be empty. Unlike our suite, there was no lobby, just a bathroom on the right and a double bed to the left of me. It was unmade, but on top of it was a packed suitcase with the lid still up and a laptop case. I wrinkled my brow in surprise...Emily hadn't said anything about us checking out yet. I thought today was about finalising the details of the holiday she had recommended. Apparently, most winners need that pause, between the euphoria of winning and the reality of dealing with all that money. She had suggested we take advantage of a two week break in an exclusive Jamaican resort, which Camelot reserved several big villas in for just this reason. We would be paying, of course, but it sounded wonderful when she brought it up. But that wasn't due until next week. Why was she packed ready to go now?

Just then I heard the sink empty in the bathroom, and seconds later, Emily walked out in her smart black business suit. She stopped dead when she saw me and I saw something in her eyes I hadn't seen up till now...dislike. What the fuck?

"Going somewhere?" I said lightly, desperately trying to think what I'd done to earn that look.

She pursed her lips and her eyes flashed with something I didn't like at all.

"Back to London" she said tersely "Another liaison officer has been assigned to you Miss Campbell. I'm sure you'll be happy with my replacement"

She went to walk past me, but I grabbed her sleeve as she did. She pulled away from me as if I had the plague, and her eyes flashed fire again.

"What the _FUCK_, Emily?" I said loudly "Why are you being like this...I thought we were...we had..."

She turned when she got to the bed and closed her suitcase with short, angry movements. When it was zipped up, she straightened and made to take it and the laptop bag past me.

"_NO_, Emily" I said, angry too now. "Stop right there. I have no idea why you're so pissed off with me...but I'm not letting you go without an explanation. What the fuck happened to make you like this?"

She looked up to the ceiling and blew out a long breath, dropping the cases to the floor before fixing me with a hard stare.

"You _really_ want me to tell you Naomi?" she said in a low, dangerous voice. A tone I had never heard her use, certainly around me.

"Yes I fucking do...Last night we were...well, getting on really well, and now you're leaving? I think I deserve to know why, don't you?"

My irritation was rising, and I folded my arms and looked at her equally unflinching. I really thought we had something. What the hell could have changed her mind overnight?

"What were you doing at 10.30 last night Naomi?" she said coldly

"What?" I asked, mouth open...what the hell did that mean?

"I was in bed...you left us at 10 o clock at the lift, what the fuck do you _THINK_ I was doing, the Great North Run?"

"I didn't ask you _where_ you were Naomi, I asked you _WHAT_ you were doing at precisely 10.30 last night?"

I stood there dazed for a moment. Last nights events were still a bit hazy after Freddies pill, but I wasn't so far out of it I couldn't remember.. And then it hit me...oh fuck, oh fuckety fuck...she can't mean...

"Nothing... I mean...sleeping...I mean what...?" I stumbled, my voice dropping to a whisper. She couldn't know...we were on separate floors, doors locked. She COULDN'T know...could she?

Emily pulled out her Blackberry and thumbed the keys quickly, before turning the screen towards me.

"Remember this?" she hissed in a voice cold as ice. "Or were you so out of it you can't even remember sending it?"

I stared at the words. I couldn't make my brain work. What the fuck...I hadn't sent that...why would I?"

"I didn't send you any texts last night Emily" I said feebly "I have no idea..." and then, of course, it all fell into place, in cold jagged pieces. Losing my phone, the Ecstasy, Freddie being so persistent about fucking me straight after he got out of the bathroom. My mind spun with the permutations. The cunt had set me up. Set Emily up, which meant she had seen...oh sweet Jesus. He'd been screwing me when she walked in. She'd seen...heard...everything. I felt sick and clammy.

"All coming back to you now Naomi?" Emily sneered in a very unEmily voice.

"You know, I must be the stupidest woman in the universe. I thought it was bad enough, having to watch you fucking Freddie...oh, and weren't you enjoying the hell out of THAT? But actually, I'm madder at myself. I should have known better. Everything I touch turns to shit. Every person I put my trust in doesn't just let me down...they have fun rubbing my nose in it too. I thought you were different...I thought, just for once I had met someone who wouldn't fuck me over. But I was wrong, wasn't I?."

Her eyes were still hard, but I saw the big tears threatening. Tears I had caused, and had no fucking excuse whatsoever for causing. Freddie might have set us up, but I let him, and now Emily was having to deal with what I'd done.

"I'm sorry..." i choked "I was drunk and high on MDMA...it was supposed to be a pity shag...putting off the inevitable until today...I never meant you to see that..."

Emily laughed out loud. Not with humour, but with disbelief.

"PITY shag?" She snarled. "Can you hear yourself...or rather, maybe I should remind YOU what I was forced to listen to last night?"

Her voice went up an octave from her normal husky tone.

"_Oh...thats it Freddie...right there, like that...you're going to make me __**come**_"

"Stop it, please!" I begged. Jesus, it even sounded liked me. I had no memory of what I'd screamed at the moment Freddies cock had got me off, but it sounded horribly accurate,

"No...you stop it Naomi" Emily grated bitterly. "Stop pretending you even liked me...that you're even fucking gay for Christs sake. Freddie loved telling me in detail how you turn yourself on, teasing girls into thinking you're gonna put out...then running back to him to get properly fucked. There's a word for women like you Naomi, but I'm not going to use it. I should have twigged when he warned me off the other day. He knows you pretty well, doesn't he?"

She sighed and picked up two envelopes from her dressing table.

"I've brought forward your holiday schedule. You and lover boy are booked on this afternoons flight to Kingston. Details and tickets are inside. The new liaison guy will meet you out there and sort you out fine. You don't need me any more"

"Please Emily" I sobbed "I'm so sorry. I don't want to go anywhere with Freddie. I don't want you to go either. I meant what I said yesterday. I fucked up...I know that...but..."

"No Naomi.." Emily said bleakly "You fucked _Freddie_, when I thought you wanted to fuck _me_. My mistake. I won't be around to make another one"

She held out the tickets, but I just stared at her hopelessly. After a second or two, she shrugged and dropped them onto the unmade bed.

"Call it a second honeymoon" she rasped. "Time for you to jump back into the closet Naomi...have a nice life"

And, picking up her cases, she brushed past me, and was gone.

I stared at the door, which had closed firmly behind her. Jesus, just when I thought...

No other thoughts came. Just tears. And then rage. Freddie might think he'd won. We'd see about that.

XXX

Emily.

I managed to hold it all in until I was in the train, on the way back to London. My boss, Mike, had been great about it all. Its not as if its unknown, a Camelot employee getting too close to a winner. Its a bit like Stockholm syndrome. Sometimes the isolation involved in being a super winner binds you together. Then, usually, the winners get over it and move on. To us, its supposed to be just a job. We get paid £40,000 a year, which eases the pain of being so close to suddenly rich people all the time, but normally we can switch off, after the euphoria has passed for our happy flock.

But occasionally, like now, we get sucked in and have to disengage abruptly. And boy, did I get sucked in. How could I have been so stupid? Forget the messy way it ended. It never did have any legs, did it? She was a figure from my past. A kiss remembered...a girl who occasionally (OK often) invaded my masturbatory fantasies. But she was a multi millionnaire now. Super rich. She could indulge virtually any fantasy she wanted now. If she and Freddie wanted to spice up their sex life with the occasional woman, there were plenty of agencies in London, where every kink could be accommodated. English, American, Chinese, African. Big girls, small girls, older ladies and, if you were discrete, girls barely out of primary school. Money gives you that power, you see. Wherever there's a need, there's a supplier. You just need to be able to afford the ante. And they could afford it.

So fuck them, fuck Naomi Campbell. Now I knew she was as unpleasant as her namesake. So I shed some more tears in the almost empty carriage as the train hurtled through the west country, on its way to Paddington. Then I stopped. People got on at Swindon and Reading. By the time Windsor Castle appeared on our right, I was OK. Bristol seemed a long way away.

Pulling out my mobile, I deliberately deleted any mention of Naomi. THAT text included. I had a twinge as the Blackberry asked me if I was sure I wanted to delete Naomi Campbell from my contact list, but did it anyway.

Then I had a thought. I hadn't actually got laid for weeks now. Time I did.

I thumbed a number into the keypad and waited for her to answer.

"Hi Emily!" the voice the other end trilled "I thought you were mad at me?"

"Not mad enough to forget you're a damned good shag" I chuckled, causing a matronly woman opposite me to choke on her orange juice "Are you free tonight?...I'm back in London in..." I checked my watch "Twenty minutes?"

"Why wait for this evening" she purred. "I've got a new toy...you have _GOT_ to try it Emsy"

"Sounds good" I chuckled dirtily "You're such a naughty girl Mandy..."

The woman opposite spilt another mouthful. I gave her a cheeky smile and ended the call. Meet the new Emily Fitch, I said to myself. No more fucking doormat.

**OK. Not much for the Naomily fans...yet...but its coming, I promise. When was it ever easy for them? Oh, and I hope you're enjoying nasty Freddie...he'll get his, I'm sure...**

**Reviews? Thanks very much you nice people!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Back to the wonderful world of lottery fever then. Naomi has buggered things up in the way only she can, and Ems has retired hurt. To the no doubt all enveloping arms of our favourite villain, Mandy. Poor Mandy, always the bridesmaid, never the bride, although when you get to the end of the first paragraph, you might not feel sorry for her long...**

**I don't own Skins...you know the drill.**

Emily

I fell backwards onto the silk sheets below me, chest heaving with exertion, and a definite dull ache between my legs. My breath was coming in desperate gasps and my skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat. I think the phrase "screwed to within an inch of my life" applied here.

"Jesus H Christ, Mandy" I panted "I thought you were going to split me in half there..."

"Fuck off Ems..." Mandy grinned cheekily, breathing as heavily as me, "This is the girl who was begging me, not two minutes ago to go faster, deeper..."

I blushed a bit at that. She was right of course. She hadn't been kidding about the the effectiveness of her latest toy. Mandy could always be relied on to spice things up. An 8" purple strap on, with a family sized girth, was just her latest novelty. She'd had me on my hands and knees, cowgirl and finally missionary position tonight. I've only ever let one guy screw me in my entire life, so I'm hardly an expert on taking large dick shaped objects inside me, but I could sort of empathize with a straight girls enjoyment at being totally and completely fucked.

The benefits, however, of doing it with a girl is that the dick in question is only received after a whole lot of manual and oral expert teasing. Which means I was basically gagging for it by the time she pushed me up onto my knees and slowly pushed it inside.

Mandy was an expert at the slow build. It took her nearly 5 minutes to go in far enough so that her stomach touched me back there.

This dick didn't need oral priming, didn't spit wallpaper paste at you when you least expect it, and stayed hard when you needed it to, and could be discarded under the bed when you didn't require its services any more.

AND...it had a function I hadn't known about before it was inside me. Not only did it vibrate at the flick of a switch (God knows how she kept calm enough to find the switch, when I was bucking and screaming for more underneath her...but anyway) But its party piece was the hidden motor inside which..._twisted_ it... in some very interesting ways...Jesus, I nearly levitated off the bed as she ground into me. I came so hard, I'm sure she'll have the nail marks for a fortnight. I certainly didn't need any more sex today. And its not often _that_ phrase occurs to me.

Sex with Mandy is what it always was right from the first time we hooked up in that bar last year. No hearts and flowers stuff. She likes screwing me. I like sex. End of. No strings (apart from the ones she uses on my wrists) No promises, and definitely no heartache. Just what I needed after the fuck up called Naomi Campbell entered my life again. No commitment, no tears, right? Well, that's what I've been telling myself.

I'd been home for two weeks now. There haven't been any big winners lately, so my boss kindly let me have a week off. I spent the first two nights getting some serious girl loving from Mandy, which blew away the cobwebs a treat, then a few days visiting my sister in York. Katie, of course, knew why I had developed a sudden interest in twin bonding again. She always knows when my heart has been broken. After the usual enquiry as to whether I wanted her to kneecap Naomi, she settled for calling her a stupid cunt for letting me go, and we didn't mention her again.

So, I've been self medicating with my sexually adventurous fuck buddy and life has started to get back to what passes for normal in the Emily Fitch world.

I haven't heard from...her... since the day I left Bristol, and I don't want to.

I rolled onto my stomach and put my head on the pillow. I was going to need a long soak tonight. That ache between my legs was growing by the minute.

Mandy got off the bed and padded naked to the en suite. I admired her lean beauty from behind. She was at least a head taller than me, but hey, in bed that wasn't an issue. She wasn't one for dates, so we normally hooked up after a phone call from one of us, and inside the hour , we were naked and going at it. Mindless sex, as often as I wanted it, so long as I didn't get any romantic notions. Well, fuck that. Relationships suck. I'm better off like this.

She came back out after 5 minutes and smirked at my blatant perving on her tits as she walked back to the bed. Well, they did bounce very perkily. Can't blame a girl for looking?

"Insatiable, little Fitch...you're fucking _insatiable_" she grinned, stopping to pose for me.

"Didn't hear you complaining tonight" I grinned back "Either time"

"You never will Ems" she said, dropping to the bed beside me and stroking my cheek affectionately "But what's brought on this complete personality change...its not really you hun, is it?"

"What?" I said sharply

"You know...remember the 'old' Emily?...hopeless romantic...hearts and flowers, Valentines cards and roses round the door? What happened to her?"

"She died..." I growled "Due to lack of interest"

"Don't give up on yourself yet babe" Mandy said quietly "You're not me. You're Emily. Someone will come along one day, take one look at that gorgeous face, and bamm, instant true love... Then you'll forget all about poor Mandy"

"Yeah...right, like thats gonna happen..." I said grimly "Tried that route, fucking dead end"

She gripped my hand in hers and shook her head.

"Not buying it Fitch. Sooner or later that hard shell you've just put round yourself will crack. We are what we are sweetie...and you're the 'mate for life' type...deal with it"

I shook my head in irritation. She was right, but I didn't want to hear it. Not now.

"But..." Mandy drawled..."While its still intact...might as well enjoy it" she chuckled dirtily. "Did I tell you I met this girl in town last week...natural blonde, drop dead gorgeous green eyes and...fucking dynamite in bed?"

"No..." I said, smiling at her dreamy expression "But why are you bringing her up now...one naked girl in your bed not enough nowadays?"

She threw her head back and laughed out loud.

"Actually, thats why I brought her up...turns out she's always wanted to try a threesome. And I just happen to have a gorgeous brunette in my bed...who if I'm not wrong...said she'd try anything once?"

I laughed at her artless expression. Always on the hunt for new experiences, Mandy.

"Never say never..." I smirked. "What's this blonde goddesses name then?"

"Naomi" she said.

My expression must have been a picture. I went white, then red. Mandy looked at me quizzically.

"Errr...can I get back to you on that?" I muttered. Fuck that for a game of soldiers. A threesome was one fucking thing, sharing Mandy with someone called Naomi was definitely too close to home.

XXX

Heathrow Airport

Naomi

Well, I'm back. Suntanned and supposedly relaxed and restored. Except of course I'm not.

I stared down at my designer luggage and sighed. I can't say the trip wasn't an eye opener. I had no idea what the wealthy got up to on vacation. Well, now I did, and to be honest, I would have preferred a fortnight in Ibiza, with the working class. Because class obviously doesn't come with money.

OK, you get a better class of banana daiquiri in an exclusive resort, but the eye fucking and lewd remarks are similar. Just delivered in Chelsea bray rather than Estuary English. I'd given up counting how many times I got propositioned by hairy, pot bellied men whose wives had disappeared for a few moments. Not to be big headed, but if I fancied dick, I could have let Freddie come with me.

Oh, sorry, should have said. Freddie is now my ex. After Emily left me crying in her room, I took a few moments to calm myself down, then I went looking for revenge. Emily may be a lost cause now, thanks to our late night floor show, but Mr F. fucking McClair was definitely not reaping the benefit of my crushed dreams. Not then, not ever.

I phoned the solicitor Emily had engaged for us and had him draft an agreement, on the spot. Its amazing what a 5 grand bonus does for a lawyers timetable. In less than 2 hours, a motorcycle courier had the document in my hand. I knew Freddie would sleep past lunchtime. As far as he was concerned, there was no rush to get up. He'd fucked me mentally and physically and any chance of me leaving his control. Or so he thought.

Then I did two more things. I rang an old friend, and asked him to send two goons in business suits to the hotel. I drew on the £5000 float I had in my bag and separated out two sets of £1000 in notes. Then I ordered a magnum of Bollinger and an extra large ice bucket to keep it cold.

The champagne arrived just after 12, about the time reception buzzed me to say I had visitors. I put down the documents my solicitor had couriered over and the Parker Duofold I had used to sign in the places they had highlighted. All it needed now was Freddies signature.

When my two swarthy and intimidating guests were in the suite, I handed them their fees. The bundles of notes disappeared into fists the size of bunches of bananas. Showtime.

I took the big bottle of champagne out of the oversized bucket and put it onto a napkin on top of the fake Regency side table. One of my tame thugs pulled back the sheet Freddie was lying under. I cringed a bit at the sight. He was lying on his back, legs open, totally naked. Not a fucking pretty sight.

Jesus, Naomi, you screwed _that_ last night, was my first thought. My second was along the lines of "Yes, but thats the last time that ugly worm gets anywhere near my fanny"

One of the guys raised an eyebrow, and I nodded. The other bloke picked up the heavy bucket as if it was a whisky tumbler. He held it above Freddies groin and upended it in one.

Freddie jumped up vertically, his mouth open in a horrified wail. I suppose two pints of ice water on your balls will do that to a man.

"What the fuck?" he screamed, trying unsuccessfully to shield his frozen bollocks and get off the soaked bed at the same time. Unfortunately, he couldn't do either. With practiced ease, the gorillas pinned his body to the bed. Freddies eyes swiveled around the room until he located mine.

"Babe?" he croaked "What's going on?"

"Nothings going on hun" I said coldly "But somethings going off...you"

His eyes registered something other than shock then. Realization, resignation, and a tiny bit of fear.

"Get these fuckers off me" he said uneasily "You're not finished with me Naoms...we belong together, right?"

"Wrong on both counts" I said, standing closer. He winced as both guys gripped his skinny arms a little tighter, in case he lunged at me.

"First...my friends here, Jason and Bill...are going to accompany you to the closet, where you are going to pack every miserable item you possess. Then, you are going to sit at the desk and sign some paperwork"

"No fucking chance" he hissed and struggled a bit until the muscular arms of my new friends persuaded him that might not be such a good idea. His angry look was replaced by one of pain.

"Oh, I think so" I said steadily "That little trick you pulled last night has cost you Freddie. About a million quid actually. I had planned to give you two million and be done with you. But upsetting me...and Emily, has made me reconsider. On the table is a one time deal. One million pounds, payable any way you like. The single condition is this. You leave today...now. You take your money, and the things I've paid for already, like that Rolex and the other goodies I bought. We never see each other again...oh, and if any nasty stories appear in the papers, or on the internet about me...or especially Emily, my new friends here, and maybe even a few more, will take you on a nice short drive, which will be a one way deal for you. My money means I can get most things done. Its just a matter of how much...and thats not really an issue for me nowadays, is it..._babe_?"

Again he struggled, but I could see his brain working. One mi!lion pounds buys an awful lot of drugs and women. He nodded, still with that feral look in his eyes.

The deal was concluded without too much trouble after that. He signed. I authorised the wire transfer of a million pounds to his bank account, and after a last appeal to my better nature, which got him nowhere, he was escorted from the hotel by my new acquaintances. Freddie McClair had pulled his last trick on me.

But after I had the dubious pleasure of the pre booked two weeks in the Caribbean, which consisted mostly of lying on my beach side villa's verandah, reading books and thinking about Emily, here I was, back in London, wondering what the fuck I was gonna do now?

First things first, I thought. A reservation at the Hilton in Park Lane was swiftly confirmed. I was sort of getting used to this Royal Suite lifestyle. At £2000 a night, even I wasn't going to be staying long, but I needed a base. Operation Emily was on..

When I was checked in, after the tedious and boring taxi ride from the airport, the first thing I did was call John, my new Camelot adviser. It wasn't a request he got often, but he did what I asked without comment. Twenty minutes after I emerged from the marble lined bathroom and poured myself an iced water, my expected visitor arrived..

"Miss Campbell?" he said politely, as I opened the suite door

"Thats me..." I smiled, equally politely "John says you come highly recommended.. I have a job I need doing...I'm looking for the address and phone number of someone I really need to speak to urgently"

He stood at my writing table as I sat and wrote out a name on a piece of very expensive hotel vellum.

He picked up the sheet of paper and glanced at it before smiling at me again.

"No problem at all. About 24 hours OK?"

"That would be fine" I said quietly "I have all the time in the world now"

The door closed behind him as discretely as it had opened.

I looked out over Park Lane, towards Harrods and Knightsbridge in the distance.

"Emily Fitch" I whispered "Its not over yet... I'm not ready to give up on you"

XXX

Emily

A day or so after the last time Mandy gave me the grand tour of her dildo emporium, I was just on my way home from a day at my friend Pandora's house. Her mother is a certified loon, and some of her genes are definitely in Panda's mind, but she's a good, if barmy friend. Two hours in her company, hearing about her on off relationship with the African guy Thomas she's been with since college is a bit of an ordeal. I've learned to mentally filter out her over graphic descriptions of the pleasure his 'donkey cock' (her words NOT mine) can give women, and Panda in particular. Its not that she's out to shock or offend. Its just that she doesn't have an off switch. What she thinks, just comes out unexpurgated...

But for all that, she's a good sounding board, and I've hammered her ears over the years with a fair bit of angst, so what the hell...

Pulling up outside my flat in Islington, I cursed the wanker who'd parked a bright yellow Porsche across two slots. I just managed to get my Fiat 500 in the last place. Thats the biggest problem round here, since it got all gentrified. Too many people with hundred grand cars and no idea how to drive them. Thats why I got the Fiat. Great in town, and cheap as chips to fuel. Why anyone would want a 20mpg car with fuck all rear visibility in London, is beyond me I thought grumpily, before slamming my boot and humping my case over my shoulder. Back at work tomorrow. Oh well...at least it would keep me occupied.

I took the dingy old fashioned lift to the third floor and pulled back the elaborately wrought gate before walking quickly to my door.

And then I saw her. Sitting on the grimy floor, with an uncertain smile on her face. She got to her feet as I reached her. I saw her face fall at my expression, but I kept it anyway.

"Emily?" she said nervously

"Naomi" I answered. That solved the mystery of the garish Porsche. "What the _hell_ are you doing here?"

**And that, my lovelies is that. Short, but necessary filler before the meatier bits to come. Like it, hate it? Do tell! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Well...after sweating over a hot keyboard for hours, my WP program decided to delete 3000 plus words of this story for no apparent reason. Note to software engineers, the message "This document no longer exists" is almost as heartbreaking as watching Emily Fitch read Sophia's memory book... **

**But, in the meantime, while I was weeping over all that wasted work, I salvaged something by improving the bit I had written on 'Beautiful Combinations' which, depending on whether you liked it or thought it was a pile of...could be a bonus.**

**But this story keeps nagging away at me, so I've had another go. Funny how sentences you thought were witty and just... right...disappear from your head straight after you press '_Save as_' isn't it? Lol... Anyway, here goes. Emilys POV...**

**Oh, and thanks for the reviews. It means a lot.**

I don't own Skins...obviously.

Emily

I was determined, when I closed the door and watched Naomi walk into my lounge, that I wasn't going to make this easy. Despite Mandy's best attempts, I hadn't had the bad, negative thoughts "_fucked out of me_" as she so charmingly put it. Mandy was a lot of things, athletic, inventive and downright filthy in bed, but a replacement soul mate she wasn't. Sex with her was exhausting and satisfying. If you needed post coital cuddles and pillow talk, look elsewhere, she wasn't offering. I knew it going in, but it still left a strangely unsatisfying aftertaste to the bedroom pyrotechnics (quiet at the back...it wasn't meant as a double entendre) which I couldn't shake.

Anyway despite that, she had definitely scratched a persistent itch very satisfactorily. But this elegant woman walking into my lounge in front of me had the power to be much, much more, and that frankly scared the shit out of me.

I followed Naomi in and watched her turn uncertainly from my picture window overlooking the square. Her face was shadowed, but I could tell she was nervous by the lip biting she was doing. I had to look away at that, otherwise all my resolve would have flown away instantly. Fuck, I thought, don't _DO_ that, woman...

"Look.." she started, but I waved a hand at her in protest.

"No, _you_ look Naomi" I said in what I hoped was a controlled tone. "I don't know what you expect from me...but I don't want you to get any false hopes up, just because I've invited you in. I still think you and me...we're a very bad idea. OK, I won't lose my job over anything thats happened...so far...but our lives will be very different from now on, can't you see that?. You have all that money, which will give you the opportunity to see and do just about anything you've ever dreamed of. I have to go back to work tomorrow. Just your everyday 9 to 5 office Joe...hows that ever gonna work out?"

Naomi took a deep breath and bit her lip again. I had to look away...again.

"All thats true. With one big exception" she breathed, wringing the handle of her Vuitton handbag. "I can't _do_ this thing without you...not at all"

I opened my mouth to argue, but this time she stopped me with a raised hand.

"No...Emily" she said firmly "Hear me out first...then, if you're still sure we're such a bad idea, I'll leave you be, OK?"

I thought about it for a couple of seconds, which probably seemed longer to her.

"OK" I said "But lets sit down first, this feels like a job interview right now"

She flashed me a weak smile as I indicated for her to sit on my old leather couch. It had taken three guys and virtually a whole morning to get it up to my apartment. My friends had to be bribed with vodka and weed until it was finally in place, but from the moment I had seen it in the second hand shop in Chapel Market, I knew it had to be mine.

I sat at the other end of the four seater, close enough to hear what she had to say, but far enough away so her pheromones didn't overwhelm me. I had to say wealth suited her. She'd gone from being a Bristol council flat girl, with dreary employment and a druggie boyfriend, to a stylish, elegant woman of means in a few weeks. I'd seen many a big winner handle money much worse than that.

She looked at me again, long and hard, before speaking.

"When I was a kid, growing up with my single mum, money was totally unimportant to me. She might have been a sad old hippy, but she loved me unconditionally. I learned early on that the love she showed me was more precious than any amount of cash. We survived on very little, and the house was always full of itinerants and wasters. But through all that chaos and confusion, she was the one person I could rely on"

She swallowed and waited for me to say something, but I just nodded.

This was her story.

"I drifted into the thing with Freddie for two main reasons. He was good to me after I lost the baby, unlike the waster of a father...and he had been hurt really badly as well. He was desperately in love with Elizabeth Stonem. When she killed herself, he nearly went under too. We clung to each other like we were shipwrecked. Us against the world, if you like. Then, when my mum decided she was going to see the world one last time, he was the only stable thing in my life left for me to hang on to"

Again she paused, but again I said nothing.

"But we outgrew each other, even before the money arrived. He knew I preferred girls, always had done, but I was scared of bailing out on him because I was terrified of being abandoned again. And then we got the flat...I started work at the supermarket...and every day sort of blurred into the next"

"Then you turned up on my doorstep. Beautiful, exciting...dangerous... just as I remembered you from that garden when we were young. All the buried feelings suddenly burst into life again. And it scared me. But more importantly, it scared Freddie _shitless_. Suddenly me leaving him for a woman wasn't a game any more...it was a real possibility. So he fought dirty. He knows my tolerance for MDMA has always been shit. It doesn't just lower my inhibitions, it fucking buries them and stamps on the earth. I really did intend to dump him that night. I couldn't hide my feelings for you any more and I didn't want to. But I guess he knew that sending you that text...conning you into thinking I was waiting for you upstairs, would be irresistible...so he fucking engineered that little farce, and it worked"

"You came upstairs, saw him screwing me and thought I was just playing you along. That was never, _ever_ true. I know we have something, you and me. Its fragile, and I've done my best to ruin it by sleeping with him again. But I want you to know I still feel the same about you, Emily. Freddies gone for good, paid off and never coming back. You're right...the money _will_ change my life. But I'd rather give the whole lot to one of my mothers save the whale charities today...right now...than go through the rest of my life not knowing if we could have made it. What I'm asking for is a second chance to prove I can be trusted...that's all"

She stopped then and when she looked up at me, I could see the glisten of fresh tears in her vivid blue eyes. I knew then that she'd spoken honestly. A big part of me wanted to gather her up in my arms. To tell her that it was OK...that every obstacle we could imagine in the future was easily overcome, just by love. But I couldn't do that...not yet. I was still raw from what had happened back in Bristol.

"I need some time to think about things Naomi" I said slowly "Can you at least give me that?"

She nodded.

"As much as you need" she said earnestly "I want this to work...for us to work. I'm not going anywhere if you'll just let me try...let me try?"

I smiled at her, and the return smile lit up my lounge like the sun. God, it would be so easy to give in right now, I thought, just grab her, kiss her face off and then pretend the last few weeks hadn't happened. Too fucking easy. And then of course, fate intervened, in that sneaky "_Thought you'd got away with it...didn't you Fitch_" way.

My home phone burbled its muted ring tone. I let it ring. Bad move.

The answering machine kicked in.

"_Hi bitch...its your sister Katherine...__**remember**__ me? If you're currently muff munching with that big dyke Mandy yet again...get your tongue out of her and use it for what it was actually intended for...fucking talk to me. Oh, and please tell her to stop mistaking me for you...I have no interest in a threesome with any female on the planet, let alone one who's name is apparently __Naomi__...but will let you call her Vanessa if it feels more comfortable...what the __**fuck**__ does that even mean?. Bitch nearly ruined a date I was on with Bruno. Now he thinks I'm into muff, like you...he wouldn't shut up about it...you fucking __**owe**__ me big time, bitch. Call me!"_

The silence after the message ended was as profound as deep space.

My sister had just dropped a bombshell bigger than Hiroshima. Not only was Naomi now painfully aware of how I'd been consoling myself lately...but Mandy had apparently mistaken her for me and casually invited her to partake in a threesome with this fucking Naomi/Vanessa woman.

The silence went on for another long moment, then we both started to talk at the same time.

"Fuck, I'm sorry about my sist..." I stuttered

"Err...well, I'll be going then...you must want to call her back...sounds urgent..." She interrupted

Again, a pregnant pause. I had no idea what to say.

"Look" I managed finally, when the silence became too much "Thats Katie... and there's no way I can begin to describe her to you...you only have a brief memory of her from that back garden years ago, so I'm not going to even try. She can embarrass me from a _continent_ away. But what you heard..."

Naomi shrugged, but I could see the hurt and doubt in her eyes. Fucking Katie. Never knowingly subtle.

"Not my business Emily" she said quietly "Like you said, we're not an item...yet"

I held on to that 'yet' grimly.

"Don't go like this..." I said firmly "Katie can wait. I need to tell you something now...and as I gave you time to explain, I was hoping you'd do the same for me...?"

She nodded, but still wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Right..._Mandy_...I've known her for a couple of years now. We're not together, never have been. Neither of us are interested in that. But I'll admit we do sleep together occasionally. Specially when I'm down, and need someone to turn to when I'm upset and lonely. And I was plenty upset when I got home from Bristol"

I paused to see if she was still listening. Her head was down, but I caught the small nod of acceptance. Enough encouragement for me to go on, anyway.

"But despite my sisters bitchiness. I am not 'with' Mandy...she was just a pleasant distraction while I got myself together again...its not a _thing_, right?"

This time Naomi did look up at me

"You really don't owe me any explanations Emily" she whispered "I came here to apologise to you, and ask you to give me a chance to prove that thing with Freddie was a mistake...I can hardly blame you for behaving like a single woman...you are one. I never thought you'd become a nun, just because I fucked up"

She smiled then, and I must admit to a suppressed sigh of relief. I'm not sure I would have been so understanding, in the same circumstances.

"Coffee?" I said, trying to break the tension

"Yeah..." Naomi said, straightening up "I could do with one" Her mouth twisted in amusement, and I knew something witty was coming my way "Its not every day you hear about threesomes with someone called Naomi, who isn't you...or is it Vanessa?"

I tried to keep a straight face, but failed dismally.

"Fuck off" I said, without malice "What with Mandy trying to set me up with exotic sexual adventures, and my bitch of a sister outing me to the world, the last thing I need is another comedian"

I got up and escaped to the kitchen.

XXX

So...a week later, and things have progressed a bit. Naomi went home after that coffee. I wanted time to think, and to be fair, she gave me 48 hours before phoning. We agreed to just be friends for now. I was back at work the next day, so I didn't have much time to dwell on things. I phoned Katie and gave her a volley for the answer machine message, but of course, I was wasting my time. She just brushed it aside, and moved on to her favourite topic...Katie.

Then I called and warned Mandy off trying to engineer any more exotic liaisons with extra partners. Especially any called Naomi. I told her I'd see her in a couple of weeks, just for dinner. She made a bit of a fuss about being sidelined, but if I knew Mandy, she would console herself by shagging this other Naomi into a dried husk in the meantime. I left her to it.

So I carried on my day job. With no big winners at present, I was chained to my desk. Walk to work In Upper Street, extra large Mocha in hand, phone messages to answer, sign offs to initial and a million small bits of admin which always pile up when you're away from the office. I got a bit of a twinge when I saw one email on my computer, asking for sign off on one N Campbell, but I kept my game face on and forwarded it to her new handler. She only had a week to go, and by the contents of the confidential report I read, she was one of our success stories. Dealing with the money fine. Did as she was advised, finance wise, and the only negative sentence talked about her payoff to Freddie. We don't normally give advice about that sort of stuff. Its personal, but she seemed to have handled it well. A million seemed small beer, compared to how much of her money he might have got through unrestricted. Drug dealers can scent blood in the water better than sharks. But I wasn't about to shed too many tears over dear Freds. A million pounds doesn't last as long as you think it will, especially if you have a preference for Colombian Marching Powder. ...

But that was the past. Naomi had vacated her luxury suite in the West End, and had taken one in a smaller boutique hotel closer to Islington itself. At £500 a night, it was still pretty expensive, but better than the £2000 a pop west end prices. It gave her the chance to go into a couple of upmarket estate agents in Upper Street to find something permanent. She was looking for something classy but old...a bit like mine, I suppose, but I was paying rent on somewhere I could never afford to own. She could spend a cool million on a top floor converted warehouse apartment and not even notice the drop in interest payments.

It still worried me, this totally ridiculous difference between our incomes. She didn't think it mattered, but it did to me. She would be getting something around £600,000 a year in nett interest on her wealth, just by leaving it at Coutts. My £40,000 a year gross, while pretty good for a single mid twenties woman living in London, just didn't cut it. I didn't want to be kept, like some middle eastern princess. I liked my independence.

But I deliberately suppressed the feelings I had about it all going to shit, and just lived for the moment. Naomi met me at lunchtimes, most days. We drank chilled white wine and ate in normal restaurants. It was all so easy. We were friends, nothing more. Twice a week now, she picked me up (I made her ditch the ridiculous yellow 911 in a lock up. The tube, and buses made far more sense in the City) and we'd go into town. She realised she loved the theatre but had never even seen a musical. I'll never forget her face when the last chorus of Les Miserables cast echoed round the Shaftsbury Avenue theatre last week. It was like seeing the reaction of a small child to their first glimpse of Christmas lights.

My heart pounded as she clapped and cheered through the songs, totally immersed in the wonderful music. I knew it was dangerous, knew it was foolish, but when she turned in her seat to beam at me as the cast gathered to belt out "Do you hear the people sing?"...sheer joy in her sparkling eyes, I succumbed. I leaned over, as everyone else stood for the cast line up and...kissed her...hard.

I pulled back, surprised at myself.

Her mouth made that funny little 'o' it does when something really unexpected happens. The people around us were oblivious, clapping, cheering and stamping their feet. If she'd said anything, even shouted it at the top of her voice, I wouldn't have heard it, but she just sat there, a look of shock on her face.

I cursed myself mentally. I had been doing so well, keeping my distance, being friendly, but reserved...getting to know her properly, without sex or love getting in the way...and now one unguarded moment undid me. She had been so childishly delighted with the show, I couldn't help myself. So now I'd kissed her...what now?

Gradually the audience quietened and began to pick up bags and coats from under seats. I had turned away, red faced, as she stared at me. While the call backs and applause occupied everyone, I could almost pretend it hadn't happened. But now, with the lights coming up and people making for the exits, one of us had to say something.

"I...I'm sorry...that was..." I started, biting my lip.

"Don't be...I'm not" she smiled gently "I think if we'd gone another day keeping arms length Emily...I might have exploded. It was just...unexpected thats all"

By now we were the only people left in the theatre, apart from the cleaners and ushers. We were getting pointed looks from some of them. I reached down and rescued my coat from under the seat. Naomi did the same. Silently we walked up the aisle to the dress circle exit.

Its always surprising when you come out of a cinema or theatre...well, to me anyway. If its a matinee, its a shock to see that its still daylight, with people rushing about, cars and buses trundling noisily up Shaftesbury Avenue. Even at night, like now, you feel like you've stepped from one dimension into another. The pretend world you've just immersed yourself in is suddenly blown away by the reality of people and streets and traffic. Tonight it was trouble squared. Neither of us had said anything whilst leaving the theatre, but now, standing on the pavement, shuffling our feet, the silence couldn't last.

"Emily?" Naomi said, reaching down and slipping her hand into mine "Can we go back to yours...I don't want tonight to be over yet?"

I knew exactly what she meant. And it had nothing to do with location. My place, her hotel...didn't matter. We both know what was going to happen if we were alone together. The sensible part of my head was nagging me to say no. Just say its too soon...say goodnight. Be sensible Emily. She hurt you once, she can do it again easily.

But since when was I ever THAT sensible?

I squeezed her hand in mine and risked a small smile.

"Mine, I think" I said, waving over her shoulder for the black cab which had just dropped a couple on the other side of the street. While she smiled at me shyly, he u turned in the road and pulled up beside us. The door creaked open.

"Islington" I said "Canonbury Square"

XXX

There is just the hint of daylight appearing over the smoke blackened rooftops outside. I can see a solitary sparrow, twitching and airing its wings on the TV aerial opposite. The sun is trying weakly to force its heat and light through the London clouds, but its fighting a losing battle.

A bit like me, I suppose. Lying here, warm and comfortable, with a stunning naked blonde wrapped around me, you'd think I should be happy. Well, I am happy. Happy that I'm alive, that I'm employed, that I have a roof over my head and a future to plan. But if part of that future is lying beside me now, I feel like the sun outside, peeking through clouds of doubt and uncertainty.

Don't get me wrong. Naomi was all, and more than I'd hoped for, in bed and out. And I suppose thats the problem. This woman, sleeping peacefully beside me, has the power to lay waste to everything I know. She had that power before...before I watched her screwing her ex. I took it away from her, temporarily. But last night has put it all back in her hands.

She doesn't know that of course. Her face is relaxed, sweet and beautiful as she breathes gently on my shoulder, sleeping the sleep of the truly exhausted. I don't know what time it was when we eventually pulled apart. The kaleidoscope of limbs and mouths and desperate sounds went on and on after we stumbled through my apartment door, mouths still attached from the kiss which began in the street, was briefly interrupted by me paying the cab...up in the lift and along the dark hallway. It was like we were underwater and sharing air was the only way we could stay alive.

My mind was still screaming at me that it wasn't too late to pull back, detach myself from her and end the night at my front door. It was never going to happen of course. From the first soft caress of her lips on mine, I was lost.

I've been with a few girls, even had my heart broken once, but everything I knew flew out of the window the moment she kissed me.

I know there was a collection of jumbled and discarded clothing all the way from my front door to the foot of the bed. My top first, buttons torn and bouncing on the floor in my haste to shed it.

Then her cashmere sweater, pulled over her shoulders while stupidly trying to keep our lips connected.

Skirts and bras followed. Desperate kisses and eager hands exploring, cupping, kneading..fingers searching for nipples and skin...always more skin.

When we made it to the bed, we paused. She dropped backwards onto it, slipping her own knickers off quickly with hooked thumbs. She was truly breathtaking. Smooth tanned skin, all curves and hollows. She watched me with hooded eyes as I dropped my own thong to the carpet. She was leaning on one elbow, her breasts rising and falling in time with her excited breathing.

"Oh God Emily" she whispered reverently, eyes hungrily taking in my own nakedness "If you knew how much I've dreamed about this..."

I had a rough idea, enough of my erotic fantasies had involved the beautiful blonde on my bed. My own breathing was shallow and fast. This time there was nothing to stop us...no one to stop us.

I dropped to the bed beside her and lifted her hand to my lips. I knew she hadn't had much experience with women. A couple of sticky fumbles with students at college, a kiss with me in the garden of some long distant school party. This would be a whole new ball game for her. I could sense the nervousness under her excitement.

"Its OK" I breathed, kissing each of her fingers in turn "This time is for you...You've waited long enough...just let me show you...OK?"

She nodded and allowed me to kiss her properly. Again the moan in the back of her throat as my tongue sought hers. My nipples grazed the soft skin of her breasts and I felt her twitch at the sensation. I took my time, mapping her body with slow measured pace. I wanted nothing more than to spread her legs and feast on her, in all her glory, but I knew she would remember this time above all others. This time really was for her...

I kissed her again, letting her arms pull me towards her. Now we were pressed against each other as if God had moulded us to fit. Breast to breast, hip to hip. Our tongues danced together until we ran out of breath and had to drag our mouths apart, heaving with oxygen starvation. Hands cupped and stroked each other. I could sense the slight hesitancy in her movements, allowing me to take the lead. I squeezed, she did too, I thumbed a swollen nipple, she rolled mine between fingers. Her hips were rocking against me, trying to build friction on that place I craved and she wanted me to touch, but was afraid to ask for.

I pushed her onto her back and bent forwards to savour the supple hardness of her nipples in turn. Her groan could almost be mistaken for one of pain, so deep and extended it was. I found myself smiling as my tongue fluttered over it as my lips applied just the right amount of suction. Just this side of painful. Her hands flew up and gripped my hair...

I wanted to taste her...but I wanted her to know first.

"Naomi" I whispered, dropping her exquisite nipple from my mouth.

She hissed in disappointment at the pause

"Don't stop Ems...I'm going crazy here..." she begged

I moved up until my mouth was level with her ear and blew on it softly. I felt the shiver go through her body and smiled again. Someone was super sensitive to small gestures...I filed it away for future reference, whilst realising with a small thrill that even in the heat and passion of this moment, I was already planning 'futures'.

"I'm going to taste you now baby" I said hoarsely, and loved the second shiver...

"Do you _want_ that" I asked totally unnecessarily. If she didn't want this...want me, I had been sadly mistaken about my sexuality for years...

She gripped my hair in her hands again and pulled my head back until our eyes met.

"Jesus Emily...don't torture me...I want that more than I've ever wanted anything...just show me..._show_ me..."

I knew what she wanted and I didn't want to waste another second. I kissed her hard, bruising both our lips before dragging my tongue down her neck, across her tits and stomach, pausing just to circle her navel. Another few inches, across smooth skin, pressing her thighs wide so I could settle between them. I pulled her legs over my shoulders and pushed a pillow under her sexy arse. Now she was exactly where I wanted her. I had time to notice that she had propped her head up on two other pillows and was watching me with eyes stoned with lust. Another little fact lodged itself in my sly lesbian brain...she likes to watch..oh fuck...are we going to have fun...

The first broad swipe of my tongue nearly finished her. Her eyes were fixed on my face as I deliberately flattened my tongue and drew it up, until it was right over her hooded clit. I pursed my lips and captured it delicately. She jerked suddenly as my tongue trilled against it, still holding it captive with my lips.

"Oh Jesus fucking _CHRIST_" she moaned "So fucking..._OH_!"

She came so hard, I thought she might actually be unconscious for a moment. And then it was my turn...she didn't disappoint. For a beginner, she learned really fast.

XXX

And now, hours later, with the morning light shining on us, I'm lying here, with the woman I most wanted in my bed, trying to make up excuses why it can't work, it _won't_ work.

Silently I slipped her arms from around me, seeing the brief little frown of anxiety on her sleeping face as I disengaged. I got out of bed and watched her sleep for a long minute, taking in her beauty and her peacefulness. And then I fucking ran...

**Thats the lot for now guys. If you review, I'll be your friend forever! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi again. Thanks for the reviews. Its a shame this part of the FF site is slowly fading away. Readers and reviewers are very thin on the ground nowadays. I suppose after the fuckery called Fire and the long gap since the brilliant S3/4, its understandable though. Memories are short, and I suppose it had to happen eventually. Lily is off doing wonderful indie stuff (still hanging on for the release of Fear of Water here...) and Kat? Well she's in Atlanta, making that series Finding Carter, where she's the lead actor. It looks like we lost her to America guys. Can't blame her...she's just getting more beautiful with age and even better at her job. I knew she'd get snapped up sooner or later by a US network. Emily Fitch must seem a long time ago to her. So Skins is fading into history, with fewer and fewer of us writing and reading about them and our girls have moved past it. Dammit!**

**And so... this will sound inevitable I guess. Its getting harder to find the time to write for FF, what with RL intruding more and more. I have this story and a couple of others to finish. Then I'm going to take an indefinite break from writing. This isn't a plea for more readers and reviewers, you guys have been amazing. Honestly. Its just that the appetite for Naomily (and Keffy/Kaomi etc) seems to be fading. And it has been an amazing journey. Truly inspiring.**

**But it gets harder and harder to justify the hours of work needed to churn out a single chapter when only a few people are reading or commenting on it (Of course the other explanation might well be that I've run out of good ideas, and the standard of my writing is lower than it was...if so, I apologise and hope you forgive me).**

**So enjoy (if thats the right word) the rest of this story, and thanks again, from the bottom of my little gay heart, for reading and supporting me for the past year or so. Thanks!**

**Lizzie**

Emily

I didn't run far...just far enough to remove myself from the intoxicating presence of Naomi Campbell. I couldn't think straight with her in the room, let alone with her naked and entangled intimately with me. I splashed cold water on my face, gave my teeth a perfunctory scrub and pulled on a trackie top and jogging bottoms over clean underwear. Putting my feet into my old Converses, I let myself out of my flat without waking her. I left a short note on a post it, stuck it to the inside of my front door at eye level and closed the door silently.

"_Gone for coffee_" it read. Fucking coward that I am...

I wasn't due in to the office until 11. My boss had a departmental meeting with other fund managers first thing, so the rest of us had a late start this cold Monday morning. I thanked my lucky stars for that bit of good fortune. I needed some thinking time. I walked up Upper Street towards Highbury Corner until I got to my favourite coffee shop. This early, it wasn't yet packed out, so I ordered a skinny latte with a strawberry cupcake side order and sat in the corner, watching the city come to life. Highbury and Islington Underground Station was just round the corner, so I idly observed a succession of agitated commuters of both sexes rush in the door, order their preferred poison and spend the wait till it was ready anxiously checking watches and tapping nervously on mobile phones. The sheer pace of London never stopped amazing me, even after all this time. Bristol had been a backwater compared to this. Its funny how you don't realise how fast you're running round the hamster wheel until you get off it.

I sipped my steaming coffee and tried to make sense of the past 24 hours. I did my little calming exercise of laying out in my mind the pros and cons of my life.

Sort of pro and con Naomi Campbell, I suppose.

_For._..she was beautiful, loving and hot as the sun in bed...oh, and rich as Croesus...and she wanted me, if last night was anything to go by (My legs closed to smother the heat that thought produced...she REALLY wanted me...over and over)

_Against._..she represented the sort of loss of control I had been fighting ever since I moved away from my overbearing mother and controlling sister. Not that she deliberately set out to own me. But her wealth, and the way I reacted to her presence, meant that I always felt on the edge of falling when she was around. Falling for her, falling in love and falling out of the safe little cocoon I had woven round myself.

Could I risk it all for this girl who had already hurt me once, even though she hadn't meant to? Was she as into me as I was her? Could it work...our lives being this different?

All questions I had no answer to, and by the time the cup was empty, I was no nearer knowing. I looked up at the clock above the counter. Somehow an hour had slipped by. It was 8 am now...I would need to get back to my flat, get ready for work...get ready to face Naomi...

XXX

I half hoped the bird would have flown when I got back. It wouldn't be the first time I'd woken at dawn and escaped my apartment, leaving a naked girl in my bed. It wasn't THAT regular an activity, but it solved the odd early morning, post shag awkwardness. Trouble is, last time it happened, it cost me a £500 Tag Heur watch and the contents of my piggy change jar. Some girls take offence at being silently dumped at 6 am.

But Naomi was hardly likely to run off with my meagre possessions. She could buy and sell my entire wealth with a few days interest on her capital. No, Naomi Campbell held the key to something far more valuable and irreplaceable. My heart...

Talking of hearts, mine was pounding as I opened my door and walked up the hallway to my bedroom door.

A bedroom door which was open. I'd _definitely_ closed it when I left.

I pushed it wide and took a deep breath before plastering a fake smile on. She was sitting up in bed...one of my old Foo Fighters tee's on and with gloriously unkempt bed hair. For the second time that morning, my cunt clenched at the memory of how her hair had got like that. Being gripped by my thighs, hands buried in the softness of her long tresses screaming her name. That's how. The tee was too short and way too tight. Which of course made her nipples poke through the material provocatively. Fuck.

I cursed my lack of control. I was sure she would spot my lust widened eyes easily. Her expression was unreadable, neutral. Finally she spoke.

"I was promised coffee?" she said quietly. Both of us knew this situation was fuck all to do with Brazilian beans, but it served its purpose as an intro.

"Sorry...I...err..forgot" I mumbled, looking away from her.

"Emily...?" she whispered "Emily...look at me "

I lifted my head and looked into her icy blue eyes. Fuck, that was a very bad idea. Those eyes could ask questions a skilled inquisitor would be proud of.

She patted the bed beside her.

"Come and talk to me...we seemed to miss that bit out last night, what with all the rampant sex..."

I took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling for a couple of seconds and did as she asked. Time for straight talking, Emily girl, I said to myself, trying to ignore the tremble in my knees as I did.

XXX

Two hours later, I was at work. Naomi was still at my place, planning her next move with the Estate Agents. I'd be lying if I said I'd put all my fears and doubts out of my mind. But with simple and pure logic, she had sat in my bed and explained to me that she was utterly sincere in her determination to make 'us' work. I listened to her, interrupted a few times, but in less than fifteen minutes, my brain followed my heart into uncharted territory. The land of Trust. We sealed the deal with another heated make out session before I declined her help showering (that would definitely have been pointless) and just made it to my office in Holborn in time for the departmental briefing. When I got home that night, a beaming Naomi met me at the door with a pair of oven gloves in her hand and a tiny pinafore...and absolutely nothing else. The coq au vin was delicious, but not half as delicious as what was under that frilly yellow pinafore... Kneeling on the carpet, in my business suit with my briefcase beside me, orally servicing a very willing 'maid' was most definitely not my normal evening routine. Watching her eyes watch me licking her is about the hottest entree I've ever sampled. I'm afraid the chicken had to wait its turn on the menu...

XXX

And now... its a year later...I could fill you in on all the details, but I'll settle for the highlights.

Naomi got her loft apartment. A huge conversion with vaulted ceilings and floor to roof windows all along one wall. It cost her a cool million and a half, but who's counting when you've got over 20?

She stayed overnights at my place after a fortnight of pretending to be a resident of the hotel. It really was pointless. After two weeks of her not wanting to leave and me begging her to stay over, we gave in and cancelled her suite booking. She basically moved in. My jokes about lesbians and removal vans didn't register with her at all until I explained. I guess with five years of enforced hetero existence, she'd missed out on the dyke scene in jokes...

Once she had her own place, I had got so used to her being around...early morning sex, lunchtime sessions, cooked evening meals followed by all night sex...well, you get the picture. I found it hard to remember a time when a grouchy blonde head wasn't next to mine every morning. The grouchiness only lasted until she tasted coffee anyway. Well, sometimes sooner if I woke her slowly, with delicate touches of fingertips and tongue. Do you know how erotic it is when the first words from your lovers mouth on waking is "Oh _fuck_ Ems...just like that baby...?" Yeah, thought you did.

I quit my job of course. Not so I could be a kept woman. That still wasn't ever gonna happen. But after she contacted her mother in Thailand, after weeks of trying, the conversation they had changed things for ever. I still haven't met Gina Campbell, although she threatens to come back occasionally, but I now have two massive thanks owing to her. One for conceiving and delivering the said N Campbell into the world, and two, for coming up with the idea of the Campbell Fitch Beneficial Trust.

Because that mouthful describes the thing which has kept us together and happy for the past 12 months. Like all great ideas, it was simple and brilliant. Naomi invested five million pounds of her wealth in a charitable trust set up to do two things. Supply money to a range of good causes, and keep me and her occupied and involved with something other than spending her cash on expensive trinkets.

We rented an office in a block near the Angel...close enough for us to walk to on fine days. It consisted of a large open plan space with windows overlooking the junction, for project planning and an office for each of us to use. We furnished it simply but classically, and brought in an accountant and an experienced charity administrator to help us get started.

With the five million fund, we could pick and choose deserving causes and projects and channel funds into them carefully. A soup kitchen in Soho...a small building in Balls Pond Road for a homeless shelter...money for teenagers with drug problems, a new scanner for the local hospice...you get the picture. The only criteria for the scheme was that it had to be overseen by our accountant, and pass the 'Emily' test.

The Emily test being did it offer something new to the area? Did it have a concrete and lasting effect on those it helped? We didn't see the point in duplicating other agencies work. And for the most part, it succeeded.

Naomi managed the continuous search for new projects, I administered and micro managed the details. It just worked. Soon we needed more staff. I interviewed at least a dozen candidates for my new full time assistant, but in the end, the last girl we saw was far and away the outstanding applicant...in more ways than one as it turned out.

Mini (or Minerva McGuiness to give her full title) was tall, blonde and drop dead gorgeous. But before you go off thinking her full lips, cute freckles and pert boobs were her only attributes, think again. She was also smart, direct and came with glowing references. Both Naomi and I interviewed her separately, and when we'd stopped giggling together about her obvious sex appeal, agreed that she was head and shoulders above the other prospects. Hot looks apart, she _was_ the one.

So we took her on, and for the first five months, everything went blissfully smoothly. The workload increased massively, but Naoms and I l Ioved being busy, so it didn't matter. OK, some nights we got home (obviously 'home' was now Naomi's loft apartment) and were fit for nothing more than instant and total collapse, but hey, it can't be roses and frilly aprons all the time, can it?

Then it happened. Oh...not what you're probably thinking. Neither of us succumbed to Mini's undoubted charms and shagged her over a desk. I don't think Naomi ever considered her as a sexual partner...After our mutual initial agreement that Mini was fucking hot, she never looked at her in anything other than a friendly boss/employee way again. Anyway, she had an on off boyfriend, so I never knew if she swung our way at all.

And although I definitely checked Mini out if she turned up in the morning with those freckle covered tits on show, it was more of a reflex reaction. I was a healthy mid twenties dyke...whats a girl to do? But thats where it ended. My sex life was plenty satisfying, thanks very much. We may not have shagged every waking minute after almost a year of doing just that, but Naomi still took my breath away, naked or clothed.

No, it wasn't that obvious. What happened wasn't tall blue eyed and female. It was tall, brown eyed and male.

Freddie fucking McClair.

Naomi had been a bit off for a couple of weeks, or so I thought. First just a bit distant, like we were in the room but not together, if that makes sense. It made me uneasy, but not suspicious.

We were in the process of applying for full charitable status, with all the form filling, meetings and due diligence procedures that involves, so I put her distraction down to concentration on the job in hand. We both took this thing very seriously, not like a rich girls hobby, so I let it pass.

We hadn't made love in over a week either, which was unheard of. But again, I knew the charity trust decision was imminent, so I didn't push it.

The morning it all went pear shaped, she had snapped at me over breakfast. Over fuck all..I had forgotten to order in any bran flakes, and she grumbled as she poured milk over her cornflakes. I don't even remember what I said...something about 'prima donna's'...the sort of throwaway line we had swapped many times before. Nothing nasty.

She fixed me with a cold stare and spoke slowly.

"Life might be a game to you Emily...but some people have it _really_ tough"

"Where the fuck did THAT come from" I said equally icily "My upbringing wasn't exactly silver spoon...whats put a bug up your fucking arse Naomi?"

She looked past me, shrugged and stood up.

"Lost my appetite" she said quietly "See you at work"

I sat there for a few minutes after she'd left. We _never_ went to work separately. It was like our daily ritual. Shower, breakfast, stop at the coffee shop for lattes, walk the rest of the way in together. Its what we did...but not today apparently.

I finished my coffee, seeing that she'd not even touched hers, and left for the office.

When I got in, she was in conference with Alice, our admin assistant. More like Naomi's personal confidant nowadays. Alice looked up and smiled thinly when I waved hello, but Naomi just kept her head down, looking at the paperwork over Alice's shoulder. I bristled at the calculated snub...what the fuck?

"Naomi" I said after it became obvious she wasn't going to look at me

She raised her head "Yes Emily" she said, so formally that I almost looked behind me to see if any unfamiliar Emily's were in the room.

"Can I have a word?" I said softly

"It'll have to wait" she said, and dipped her head again.

Alice looked at me, and then Naomi, before reddening slightly at our exchange. I could almost read her mind. Something like "Uh oh...trouble in paradise"

I turned away to see Mini looking over at me quizzically. I walked quickly to her desk, still burning at the unexpected coldness of my partner. My face was neutral, but I knew no one was fooled. I'd just been cut off at the knees by Naomi...and I had no idea why.

The rest of the morning was an endurance test. Luckily, with separate offices, I didn't have to face her again. When I came out of mine just before 12, I saw that her door was open and the room empty. I didn't want to ask where she was...I should fucking know for Christ's sake, but I did anyway.

"Mins" I said, trying to keep my voice level "Naomi got an appointment lunchtime?"

Mini shrugged and opened her online diary.

"Nope" she said, the Scottish accent she often tried to bury came out anyway. It usually happened when she was stressed about something, so that told me a lot about the current office atmosphere "She's just put 'Personal Time" in...whatever that is"

I gritted my teeth in frustration...what poxy personal time?

Trying to keep my tone light, I called across to Alice, who handled Naomi's day diary.

"Any clues Alice?" I said quietly.

"Err...well, she asked me not to say, so..." she mumbled and looked down at her hands.

"What?" I shouted, making them both jump "Alice...details...**now**, if you value your job"

She looked up at me with puppy dog eyes, but the cold sinking feeling in my stomach was fuelling my anxiety. I couldn't, wouldn't let this drop now. What the fuck was she up to?

"She got me to book a table for two at Maxis in Goodge Street for 12.30" Alice muttered eventually "I'm sure she just forgot to..." she stuttered, but I was past listening. I was already half way to the door.

I burst out into the bustle of Angel junction, and within seconds, was in the back of a black cab, on the way to Tottenham Court Road. My guts were churning with a mixture of anger and fear. I had no idea what she was up to, but all the way through the city traffic, bits of the past few days kept coming back to me. The silences, the lack of physical contact. The anger at small incidents. What the fuck was going on?

It was starting to add up, and I didn't like this arithmetic one little bit...

Pulling up outside Maxi's which is one of those restaurants that come and go just off TCR..temporarily popular with TV celebs for a summer, then replaced by another shortly afterwards. I didn't like the pretend politeness and faux casual manner of the staff these places employed. If your face wasn't instantly familiar, they just hustled you through your meal in the hope of renting your table to some fuckwit from TOWIE or something.

I started to make my way across the pavement to the mock regency doorway, when I glanced to one side. What I saw stopped me in my tracks.

Seated in a window table, large as life, two people. Two very familiar fucking people. One Naomi Campbell, leaning forward, hands on the white tablecloth, listening intently to her lunch partner. A certain Frederick McClair, who was not only talking thirteen to the dozen, but was currently resting his hands on the table too. Only someone else's hands were keeping his off the linen. Three guesses whose...

I stood there, mouth open, watching him talking. People brushed past me, shooting me little annoyed looks at my statue impression. They might as well have been in another dimension for all the attention I paid them. Of all the things my imagination had dragged out of my brain on the way here, _this wasn't one. Freddie?

After a year together...fucking Freddie?

My stomach lurched and I felt giddy. I wanted to run in there and drag his filthy hands off her...I wanted to punch her in the face...scream obscenities at both of them.

In the end I did nothing. I think a little bit of my heart died that autumn afternoon, standing on the wet pavement, watching my lover and her ex talking. Just before I turned and finally staggered away, I saw him squeeze her hands in his. She smiled at whatever he had said and squeezed back. Again the gorge rose in my throat. I saw him lift one hand to stroke her cheek, and I had to go.

I walked rapidly along the busy street, gathering curious looks as I did. I must have looked a sight. Pale, wide eyed and stifling the wretched sobs which were threatening to overwhelm me. It was over...

I don't remember much of the cab ride back either. Except, layer by inexorable layer, my self respect peeled off like an onion skin. The true extent of my stupidity became obvious. I was _totally_ dependent on her. My flat was gone, rented out to another office drone the second I handed the keys back to the letting agent. My job was gone, the plum position with Camelot was oversubscribed a hundredfold. My current 'job' was history. No way would I be spending a second longer there than it took to pick up my personal things and flee. So, no income, no roof over my head, no Naomi.

I paid off the cab with a £20, not waiting for the change. I took the lift to the tenth floor and walked in, stony faced, crossing the reception area to my office.

Alice got up to say something, and immediately sat down, when she saw the state of my tear stained face. I looked right through her. As I got inside my door, I steeled myself for the task ahead. I only had a few things in my drawers I needed. I opened the desk and pulled out my i Pad, bag and keys. That would about do it.

As I turned to leave, Mini was standing in the doorway. Her face told me Alice had given her the grim details while I was out. She came over and hugged me without saying a word, which had the instant effect of breaking me completely. She let me cry, offering just a huge mans white handkerchief to sob into.

After a minute or so, I straightened up. I didn't want to be anywhere near this place when she got back. Mini grabbed my shoulders and looked at me intently.

"Its a shitty thing she's done Emily. I can't make it better for you. But I can be your friend...I think you need one...right?"

I nodded. I needed a friend desperately. I wasn't exactly spoiled for choice at the moment.

"Right..." she said in that soft Scottish burr "My place I think...unless you want to go back to...to pick up some things first?"

"I...I couldn't bear it just now...could you...?" I held up my keys and she nodded.

"Yeah...no problem. Lets get you back to mine. You can make a start on that Greek Brandy I bought back from Kos last month. I'll go over to your...I mean _her_... place and pick up what I can carry, OK?"

I nodded miserably. Is this the way all relationships end...it seemed mine did.

"But Mini..." I protested, realising that whatever my problems, she had a job here...a life.

"I know what you're thinking Emily" she said firmly "But fuck this for a game of soldiers...if you go, I go. I'm a stand out candidate...isn't that what you said when you hired me? I'll get snapped up in a week"

She arched an impeccably trimmed eyebrow, and despite my misery, I gave her a weak smile in return.

"Fancy getting completely wasted?" I said, picking up my iPad and other stuff. I took a deep breath and followed Mini to the door.

She grinned and nodded. Alcohol, my only reliable companion.

As I passed Alice...who must have been privy to a lot more secrets than she'd admitted to, seeing as how Mini had the full unvarnished story before I even got back. Someone knew a lot more about Naomi and Freddies secret meetings than she was letting on..I flashed her a smile which was as fake as any I had ever given in my life.

"Best of luck Alice" I said through gritted teeth as she sat there, looking up at me with a sickly smile of her own. "You're gonna need it if Foxy Freddie starts work here. Tell..._her_..I quit with immediate effect. I don't want to see her, speak to her or even know she exists. You can give her a message though" I finished

Alice nodded quickly and picked up a pen. I smiled nastily at her for that.

"You won't need that..." I said "Its an easy one to remember..._Fuck_ _You Cheating Bitch_"

Mini leaned over my shoulder and gave Alice her own version of the evil grin.

"And that goes for me too...you creepy Judas" she said menacingly. Alice put her head back down as we left.

When the door to Campbell Fitch closed softly behind me, my strength gave out. Mini almost had to carry me down to the street. We hailed yet another cab, and as it pulled away from the kerb, another taxi pulled up sharply behind us. Luckily the occupant was too distracted to see us through the rear window. Lucky for who, I don't know. A tearful and wide eyed Naomi Campbell threw what looked like a £50 note at the driver and ran into the building. The local cab rank would be having a drink on us tonight, it seemed.

Mini held my hand and stroked the back of it as I looked out of the back screen at my disappearing old life.

Life sucks, huh?

XXX

**And thats this weeks cliffhanger done. Naomi really _has_ fucked it up this time, huh? Secret meetings with her ex...never gonna end well was it? Its a betrayal Emily isn't going to forgive or forget, whatever the motive.**

**Some might think its a bit far fetched that Naomi would have anything to do with Freddie, considering what he got up to in the past. I would refer them to one of my favourite movies 'Casino' and the character played by Sharon Stone. She had it all, husband, money, kids status...but that small time hustler from her past kept coming back...and she kept on letting him. Relationships are strange sometimes. Would I cheat on Emily Fitch with a loser like him? Hell no...but then we don't know the whole story yet, do we?**

**Would you like to read more? Then its simple...review my lovely readers!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi again. Many thanks for the lovely reviews and kind comments. I will make sure I give 100% effort to making the unfinished stories worth reading!**

**On with Lottery Fever, and I think its about time we heard about what's been going on in Naomi's mind. Did she cheat? And does that really matter anyway?... I think Emily is more upset about the betrayal involved in her meeting Freddie behind her back. I mean..its been a year FFS.**

Naomi

All the way back in the cab, I alternated between cursing myself for putting my phone on silent and inwardly screaming at the stupidity of meeting Freddie without telling Emily in the first place. Either way, I was a fucking idiot.

He'd got in touch almost a fortnight ago. I didn't take his first five calls, but a moment of weakness later, I found myself listening to his tale of woe.

The million was gone, of course. A helter-skelter 12 months of drugs, drink and newly acquired 'friends' had taken care of that. Down to his last £50,000, he'd listened to a persuasive dealer, and gone in for some bulk importation. Cocaine importation.

It had all gone tits up, of fucking course. His friendly dealer had disappeared with Freddies cash...and the several kilos of powder brought into the UK by an Albanian mule.

Result? One very pissed off Albanian drug lord, and a £20,000 contract on Freddies head.

So I was his last resort, him having spent two weeks hiding out in a scummy London squat. I was so fucking stupid for falling for his hard luck story. All he wanted, he said, was a 'final' payout of £75,000 from me and a one way ticket to Rio.

I'd found myself snapping at Emily for fuck all, just because I felt so guilty. Didn't stop me doing it of course...

Meeting him in that restaurant was supposed to be the last act in our five year tragedy play. He would disappear forever, he promised. £75,000 was a small price for me to pay to see the back of him and Emily would never need to find out..Right?...

_Wrong_.

Not only did she find out...she apparently saw Freddie hold my hands and stroking my cheek. Why am I so weak when it comes to him? Its not like I'd ever choose him over Emily, but I can't blame her for adding two and two to make five. In her shoes, so would I.

So, that was the plan. Pay off Freddie once and for all, see him on his flight and everyone's a winner, yeah? Epic fail... And having my phone on mute meant not getting any of the frantic texts and calls from Alice, warning me that Emily was en route. She ended up calling the restaurant as a last resort. A waiter came over just as I passed Freddie the plane ticket and the envelope stuffed with notes.

Too fucking late of course. I jumped up and left Freddie gaping at me from his chair. I couldn't find a fucking cab, and it was twenty minutes later I jumped out in front of our office building, throwing a careless £50 at the cabbie.

Ten floors and an agonizing two minutes later, I burst into our offices to find...nothing. No Emily, no Mini...no Alice

Actually there was an Alice eventually. As I stood in the middle of our reception, she emerged from the ladies loo, dabbing her eyes.

"N...Naomi" she stuttered "They've gone...both of them"

"Who's gone" I said stupidly

"Emily and Mini...both resigned and left a few minutes ago...you only just missed them"

My head spun as I tried to make sense of it. I understood Emily would be upset...distraught even...I thought she would probably go home...wait for me there...scream and shout at me. But Mini too? She'd only been here a few months, she wasn't involved with either of us personally...what the fuck?"

"Emily was shattered...almost on the point of collapse" Alice went on relentlessly "Said she quit and never wanted to see you again...ever. And Mini said she quit too and that you were a f..."

"OK...OK.." I muttered, rubbing my forehead, where a king sized headache was starting to throb " I get that, I suppose...Mini quitting in sympathy...but..."

Alice passed me a man sized white hanky as the tears started to flow again from my red rimmed eyes.

"I've really fucked this up, haven't I?" I mumbled, dabbing at my black smudged eyes and pacing up and down the thickly carpeted room. "I need to talk to Emily...tell her nothing happened...Freddie and I...we're not...you know?"

Surprisingly, considering Alice normally treated every word that came out of my mouth as Gospel straight from Mount Sinai, she let me have it straight.

"I don't believe you understand yet, Naomi" she said grimly" I don't think Emily's gone home to cry...she said she never, ever wanted to see you again. The fact that you and Freddie haven't...'you know'...isn't really the point... she was broken...I've never seen her so upset"

Suddenly, the true extent of my stupidity sprang into harsh focus. She hadn't just been upset, seeing me and Freds together. She'd been destroyed by it. I remembered her face, the morning after she had walked in on me and him getting it on. Beautifully broken..but utterly determined. And this was worse...far worse... wasn't it?

I hadn't just done something behind her back which she didn't like...I'd hurt her more than I ever thought I could...again.

I'd ripped her heart out and stamped on it. She might never forgive me this time. The shock of that realization thumped inside me like a heart attack. My fingers went numb, I was gripping the borrowed handkerchief so hard. My head spun and Alice took a step towards me as I swayed alarmingly.

"No...she can't.. I mean its not..." I gabbled, staring round the room as if she was suddenly going to appear with a file in her hand and that trademark cheeky smile I loved so much and was missing desperately already.

"I've got to go...our place...cancel my meetings Alice...Oh fuck...I could _lose_ her...I couldn't bear..."

Without finishing the garbled sentence, I spun on my expensive heels and ran for the doors.

Ten minutes later, the cab pulled up outside our building. Another £20 went towards the licensed taxi drivers benevolent fund as I pushed open the double doors, ignoring the creaky lift and taking the stairs two at a time up to the top floor.

I fumbled my key in the lock and burst into the lobby of our apartment. I could instantly hear a voice humming in the lounge and my heart leapt at the sound. I wasn't too late...she was still here...

My euphoria lasted long enough for me to push open the half ajar lounge doors. It wasn't Emily...it was Mini.

She was standing in the centre of the huge room, two open suitcases on the couch beside her, both brimming with clothes...things...Emily's things.

My anger bubbled to the surface before my brain caught up with it.

"What the FUCK are you doing here Mini, and _why_ are you packing Emily's things?"

Both stupid and pointless questions, but my brain wasn't exactly on top form.

Mini turned to look at me with narrowed eyes. I'd never seen that look from her before. Cold, pointed.

"Emily asked me to get her belongings" she said icily "She isn't staying here anymore Naomi"

"Don't be stupid" I blustered

"She lives here...and why are you...I mean what are you..."

I reached towards her and tried to pull the top she had in her hand towards me.

"No" she said simply, pulling back hard "Its not my business...although I seem to be in the middle here, like it or not...but she needs someone right now, someone who won't hurt her"

I felt the accusation in that statement and flinched as if I had been physically struck.

"I wouldn't hurt her" I said miserably "I love her"

"Funny way of fucking showing it" Mini growled, her Scottish burr more pronounced.

"Secret meetings with your scummy ex...holding hands..sounds a lot like hurting her to me?"

I looked down at the floor, tears splashing onto the parquet tiles at my feet.

"Please...I've got to see her...to explain...I didn't...we didn't...It wasn't like that"

It sounded pathetic and shallow, even to me, and Mini just pursed her lips at my lame attempt to absolve myself of guilt.

"She doesn't want to see you Naomi...definitely not now, maybe not ever. Now I'm going to take these cases" she closed them and hoisted them upright "And then I'm going. She's staying with me for the time being. We don't want visitors...especially you. I suggest you try to make sense of what you've done...I'm going to do my best to be a friend to Emily, she needs one. Goodbye Naomi"

She turned, with a suitcase in each hand as she reached the lobby.

"Some people wait a lifetime for what you had with her. I used to watch you two and envy love like that. The way you looked at each other every day. Why did you have to spoil it with a shit like Freddie?"

She didn't wait for an answer, just shook her head sadly and kicked the door shut with her heel as she left. The sound of the heavy door slamming felt like the end of it all.

XXX

Mini

I got back to my place to find Emily in the same place I had left her. Sitting on my couch, wringing a soaking wet handkerchief in her hands and staring with red rimmed eyes out of the window. She was almost catatonic with grief. She looked like someone dealing with bereavement, which in a way, I suppose she was.

We've all been there. Betrayal, broken dreams, lost love, and I've had my fair share. But this was different. I think she had bought into their relationship totally. Which, of course made what happened doubly painful. Poor Emily, I thought and dropped the suitcases where I stood and sat with her, wrapping her in my arms. She started to cry silently...just shaking.

"Shhh" I said uselessly "Its no good me pretending it will be OK Emily...not now at least. But I'm here for you. It will get better sweetheart, I promise"

Empty words I know, but what the fuck DO you say to someone who has had their heart ripped out?

She shook her head sadly and pulled back so I could see her face.

"What's wrong with me Mins?" she choked "Am I such a bad person that everyone I love turns on me...what is it I do wrong?"

I gripped her shoulders and shook her slightly

"Listen to me, Emily Fitch...you're beautiful, kind, smart and sexy. Don't EVER think this is about you. She's some kind of crazy bitch if she thinks she'll ever do better. Don't let this ruin you. You're better than that"

I held her eyes with mine until she nodded uncertainly. A tiny smile was my reward.

"You think I'm sexy Mins...?" she said croakily..."I never knew"

The corners of her mouth twitched.

I grinned at her. At least there was a spark of hope inside her if she could joke.

"Fucking stunning" I smirked..."In fact, if you weren't such a blubbering mess right now, I might shag you myself"

Her eyes widened, and I thought for a second I'd gone too far. She bit her lip and stared at me. Oh fuck, I thought...this isn't..I don't mean...

Too late. She pulled me in and kissed my mouth hard. The sort of kiss that normally leads to one inevitable thing. But this wasn't right. Not now, not like this.

I might have told some white lies during our 5 months working together. I DO have a boyfriend, although he spends 8 months of the year abroad.

He works for a big oil company, and to be honest, the arrangement suits both of us. I know he has needs, whether he's in Venezuela or Oman. I'm sure he plays away, as do I. And I'm not quite as straight as I let Naomi and Emily believe. An intense relationship with a girl called Frankie in college only ended because she moved away, and there have been a couple since. Nothing heavy...no removal vans, cats or kd Lang collections, but I've always been open to sleeping with girls. They're soft, and affectionate and they rarely stink of too much aftershave or fart in bed...but there had never been one to persuade me that a damn good shag with a virile guy was off the menu entirely. Sometimes a girl needs a stiff cock inside her.

So it wasn't because I found Emily unattractive or undesirable that stopped me giving her the comfort she craved. But I knew this was just about her blanking out her misery over Naomi, and this wasn't what she really needed. So I pulled back, feeling her lips leave mine with some regret and held her trembling hands.

"Emily" I said softly "I meant what I said. If you and I were sitting here after a night out, and what happened today hadn't...and you weren't still in love with Naomi...lots of 'ifs' I know...I'd take you to bed no problem. But you don't need a substitute lover right now...you need a friend...OK?"

There was a moment when I thought she might bolt, but then her shoulders slumped and she nodded miserably. Thank fuck, I thought, one more moment with her lips on mine and I might have cracked. Even tearful and crumpled, she was still hot stuff.

I made us some hot sweet tea and watched the world go by outside together until it got dark.

My phone buzzed a few times, but I ignored it. Emily's was thankfully turned off. When she went to the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed, I switched it on. Twenty voice mails, thirty missed calls and fifteen texts. All from Naomi. I knew it was none of my business, but having just got her calm, I didn't want her collapsing again. With a whole lot of guilt, I deleted the lot. Tomorrow was another day. Soon enough to face reality again.

When Emily came out of the bathroom, wrapped in one of my bath sheets, hair wet and face glowing from the hot water, I gave her one of my oversized tee's and walked her into my bedroom. We'd have to share. My income didn't run to a spare bedroom. But the bed was queen sized ( there are some perks to having a 6 foot 4 boyfriend, even if he only spends 3 months a year sharing it with me) so plenty of room for two girls to sleep together without topping each other...the fact that a flash of heat between my legs happened when that thought occurred to me is entirely incidental. Focus, Minerva, I scolded myself.

When I'd showered and changed into my longest nightie (no point in tempting fate), I found Emily asleep in the middle of my bed. Curled like a tiny brunette dormouse, her hands tucked under her chin.

I sighed. Looks like the no contact platonic sharing is fucked already, I thought.

I got in and slid close behind her, spooning and gripping her folded hands in mine.

She sighed in her sleep and mumbled something indistinct. Something that ended in "_Naomi_"

It took me a long time to drift off...

XXX

Two months later

Emily

I'd say its been hard, but that doesn't begin to cover it. Disentangling yourself from a long term relationship is hard, period. But when everything you are is tied to your ex, its fucking quantum mechanics. I was no use to anyone for over a week. I cried a lot, drank a lot and if it hadn't been for Mini, I might well have had to resort to the horrors of Fitch Towers and the kraken that is Jenna Fitch. She would have been quietly ecstatic that yet another 'unnatural' relationship had gone west. There would have been bags of fake sympathy and tissues, but sooner or later the sly invitations to local events and the totally coincidental spare males just happening to make up the numbers would have started. Eventually, even I would tire of being polite, and would be forced to bale.

So Mini has been my saviour. She's sympathetic without being over the top. Once the first week passed, with the endless voice-mails, flowers and handwritten pleas from Naomi for me to talk to her (Like that was ever gonna happen) we settled into some sort of routine. We went job hunting together. Naomi had at least accepted that I would never walk through the doors of Campbell Fitch again and paid me off. Not a penny more than my contract stated. I insisted on that. Fuck being her charity case. I got the termination letter and a final cheque for £6000, which at least kept me solvent. I kept insisting to Mini that I should move out, find a rental flat and start to stand on my own feet, but the stubborn cow wouldn't hear of it. Her on off boyfriend Angus was in New Zealand for the next 3 months at least, so I accepted her offer to stay 'at least until then'.

She found a job first, in sales for an upmarket property company.

Like she said...she was hot property herself, and bagged the first position she applied for. I got a lower paid job at a finance house and we travelled to the City together, meeting for lunch a few times a week. The echoes of my happy time with Naomi didn't escape me. But it had to be endured.

Eventually, after a while, the daily texts and voice-mails dried up. One part of me felt relieved. I couldn't stop myself reading and listening to them. It was obvious she was suffering as much as me. She explained in detail what she had been doing with Freddie that afternoon. But she gradually came to understand that I didn't really care if they hadn't got physical. The betrayal was worse than that, worse than a random shag with an ex. It was the fact that she trusted me so little, after a year together, that she still couldn't tell me what she was planning. And even after I relented one night and accepted one of her calls, she still didn't really get it. She actually thought that baling Freddie out this time would be the end of it. I knew his type too well. If a million pounds wasn't enough to pay him off, £75000 was chicken feed. Sooner or later he would turn up again, bat those long lashes and squirm his way back into our lives. That was something I would not stand for. Not again.

But it was too late to give her the choice, as I might have done if she'd come to me before meeting him. It was brutally simple...him or me.

And in the end...she'd chosen him.

I finished the conversation by telling her, in as stony a voice as I could manage, that we both had to live with our choices. I had to hang up in the end, listening to her broken sobs nearly killed me.

But now it was done.

And now I was standing in the terminal at Gatwick with Mini. Our new bosses had swallowed the lie about pre booked holidays, and we were checking in for our flight to Corfu. Mini's uncle had a villa in a tiny fishing village called Agios Georgious, and we were set for a fortnight of sun, sea and hopefully gallons of Greek wine. The sex part of the holiday triplet was on hold. I was still too mentally fragile to consider anyone new, and Mini had made it clear us two getting it on was a bad idea. Pity...she looked fucking hot in her tight yellow shorts and white crop top. I may be off love, but mindless sex with someone I could trust not to break my heart was certainly tempting. But I kept it in my pants...at least for now.

We'd just checked in our bags, and were standing by the departure terminals, waiting for our flight to be called when someone called my name. It was noisy in the airport, announcements, people laughing and talking. But I knew the voice instantly.

I couldn't make my body turn. It was as if I was frozen. I saw Mini glare and her mouth opened to growl, but I put my hand on her arm.

"It. OK Mins..." I said wearily "It had to happen sooner or later "

I turned slowly to face her.

"Naomi" I said, as neutrally as I could. Which was difficult, her being just as beautiful as I remembered. Her hair was slightly longer, falling in soft waves over her shoulders. She was dressed elegantly as always in a blue designer sun dress, simple but obviously expensive. I took in the platinum necklace and bracelet. They were new. What wasn't was the 18 carat gold band on her ring finger. A ring I had bought her 6 months ago, when I thought, at last, I had found the girl of my dreams. I had one exactly the same. But mine was back at Mini's, buried at the bottom of my jewellery box.

"How are you?" she said softly and looked down at my left hand, her eyes registering the missing band with a slight, but noticeable wince.

"I've been better...but one day at a time, huh?"

She bit her bottom lip and seemed to struggle to find anything more to say. I heard Mini cough politely behind me, but I stayed facing Naomi, arms folded defensively now.

"Was there anything else...like..?" I said harshly...more harshly than I intended. I saw the shock and pain in her ever expressive eyes and stopped talking abruptly

I saw tears form in her eyes and I had to physically restrain myself from just falling into her. She still had that power over me.

She gulped and brushed a hand across her eyes.

"I miss you so much..." she started, but I interrupted.

"Don't do this Naomi" I said, my own voice trembling now "Its too late..."

"Please..." she croaked

"Please don't...just talk to me...I'll do _anything_...Ems, anything at all"

I shook my head, willing myself not to break.

"I've got to go" I whispered "I can't stand this..."

I felt Mini's hands support me as I swayed. I hated the way Naomi's sheer physical presence could take away all my resolve. I heard her sob, and my own tears started, running unchecked down my cheeks.

"I'm so sorry Emily" she sobbed "I miss you so fucking much. I'm no good without you..I can't sleep, can't think without you...please...can I at least call you?"

I didn't trust myself to answer without breaking down, so I just nodded. Seemed to be the easiest way to stop this getting even uglier. I saw her face lighten at that, and she gabbled the next sentence as I picked up my hand luggage.

"I'm going to my mums in Thailand...just for two weeks...can I call you when I get there?...I have to get the shuttle to Paris...then a flight to Bangkok..."

"I understand" I said, cutting her off "and I'm not making any promises...none at all. Call me when you get there"

She went to hug me, but I knew if I let her touch me, the last two months would have been for nothing. Her smell, her body, those eyes...next thing you know we would be shagging in an airport toilet. I stiffened as she reached for me and luckily, her eyes registered the gesture. Her arms went back to her sides and she swallowed hard.

"I meant what I said" she whispered "I really will do anything to make this right. I love you so much Emily...its destroying me"

"I meant what I said too" I said firmly "Just call me...OK?...no promises. None at all"

She swallowed again and blinked away fresh tears. It was making me ache, watching her suffer, but I was hurting too, and I'd done nothing to deserve the pain.

"Bye Emily" she croaked "Have a great time"

Mini smirked thinly at her as her eyes held mine, pleading for something to hang on to.

"Oh, I intend to make _sure_ she does" she drawled provocatively.

I saw the flash of pain in Naomi's eyes and knew she had registered the venom in that statement.

"Mins..." I said softly..."Don't"

I might have been still angry with Naomi, but I never was one for punishing my ex's with spite.

Naomi turned away sadly and I watched her walk towards the Paris check in desk.

I sighed and followed Mini to our gate. Time to put England, and Naomi Campbell out of my mind. Today was the first day of my holiday. Fuck it...

**And thats where we leave our girls, for now.**

**Comments? Reviews? Yes please, my lovelies...**


	7. Chapter 7

**OK. So...Emily is off to Corfu. Naomi is en route to Bangkok to meet Gina...who we all hope will knock some sense into her ever skittish and accident prone daughter. Ems has agreed to take Naomi's calls, but she is a million miles from forgiving her, even if she could get past the trust issue vis a vis Freddie. Cue holiday madness then?**

**Humble thanks for the reviews and comments. I really don't deserve the praise and loyalty, but I do appreciate it. Honestly.**

**Skins isn't mine by the way...it isn't yours either, but we all love it like a poor puppy thats been kicked and abused by its masters. So we've rescued it. Put that In your pipe and smoke it, JB shovel face...lol.**

Emily

The flight was uneventful. Mini let me have my little cry over the recent trauma of bumping into you know who, and by the third Malibu (which was supposed to be left as duty free, but Mins had poured some into an innocent smoothie bottle, which we shared) I was feeling less stressed...well, OK, pleasantly pissed will about cover it.

She teased me by pointing out that I wasn't that devastated, given that I couldn't resist staring at the pert behind of the EasyJet flight attendant who bent to get our cashew nuts from the bottom of the trolley. I punched Mini's arm when she giggled and whispered suggestive filth in my ear.

There wasn't much chance of me joining the Mile High club on a budget flight to Greece was there, even if I wanted to. OK, the stew was very pretty, in an over made up, bleach blonde kind of way (the fact that she had rather spectacular blue eyes was entirely by the way). And my Gaydar was weakly bleeping.

I told Mini that a close resemblance to another bottle blonde with hypnotic eyes wasn't a reason for me to ask for her phone number. Bitch...

We finished the Malibu just in time for the fasten seat belt lights to go on. We descended towards Corfu airport quickly, and before long, we had found our luggage and a taxi and were sitting in the back of a battered white Merc, being terrified by a middle aged Greek driver with a death wish and an ignorance of the Highway Code Professor Stephen Hawking or Stevie Wonder would struggle to match.

Arriving at the villa (which was a bit of a grand title for a whitewashed breeze block building with a tiny veranda and shaky continental plumbing) we paid the Kamikaze cabbie with trembling hands and went inside to unpack.

Dusk was falling as we finished putting our clothes away. We were both a bit hung over and tired, so we just walked down the steep path to the beach, where there were a cluster of small lantern lit tavernas. Picking one at random, we ordered grilled swordfish, Greek salad and a bottle of local retsina wine. The staff were friendly, even if they all seemed to be called Yiannis, and after an hour, we walked back up to the villa to sleep..

Next morning dawned bright and sunny...as if they have any other sort of dawn here. London, Bristol and England's stormy skies seemed a galaxy away. I woke Mini with a strategically lobbed pillow, which earned me a flood of profanities even my sister would be proud of. I showered while Mins sleepily made coffee and grumbled a lot. I had discovered that it wasn't only my significant ex who was a grouch in the mornings.

Me? ...Bright as a button.

I had resisted showing Mini just HOW much of a morning person I was, even if I had been platonically sharing her bed for almost two months. I don't think she would have appreciated me demonstrating the happy wake up time technique I had used on N..._her_, to guarantee (a)rousing her with a smile on her face. Friends, right...just friends...keep it in your pants Emily, I reminded myself daily.

Dressed in matching tiny yellow bikinis, with a loose shirt and shorts on top, we donned our last minute departure lounge flip flops and walked down to the same cluster of bars and tavernas we had visited last night

This time, we picked one right on the beach.

The owner (Yiannis of course) was a stocky brown skinned guy in his forties, with black forearm hair a silver-back gorilla would have envied. He smiled at us as we walked under the yellow awning and ushered us to a table overlooking the glittering blue Aegean. White sand, blue sky and two weeks of doing nothing much in front of us. Bliss.

Even when Yiannis paraded his two teenage sons in front of us and practically fell into Mini's cleavage, drooling, it couldn't spoil my good mood. I knew we were likely to get hit on a fair bit, being two unattached twenty something females, but I really couldn't be bothered to stress about it. The chances of either of his offspring getting their hands on THIS merchandise were vanishingly small, but what the hell, maybe Mini would be happy to entertain them. Just as long as I was out of sight and earshot while it happened, who was I to judge?

In the end, we smiled politely, accepted the free coffee and huge, sweet apricots they gave us and left them with nothing more than a promise to eat there tonight. We took our towels and bags full of sunscreen and water bottles and went along the beach until we found a secluded inlet with enough flat sand to lay out on. Time to collect some serious rays...

XXX

Three days later, we had settled into a comfortable routine. Up late, breakfast on fruit and rough Greek bread with olive oil. Beach...two hours sunbathing. Lunch, bit of exploring on bikes we hired and then back to the villa to change. Out at 8, dinner and then a taxi into the nearest town. Drinks, mostly paid for by smiling locals or predatory English lads. A few groping hands and beery suggestions later, we sashayed out and onto another bar or club. I obviously wasn't interested in getting impaled on any stiff dicks, and although Mini allowed a few more liberties than me...she wasn't averse to a bit of drunken snogging or even a breast massage, so long as they were gentle... neither of us copped off. There appeared to be a distinct lack of young attractive lesbians on Corfu (perhaps we should have gone to Lesbos?) so I resigned myself to taking care of business on the (very) rare occasion Mini went alone into town to shop. Once...

It was on the fourth night I got the call. I still had Naomi's contact on my phone, so when it flashed up with her name, I nearly spilt a mouthful of neat Greek Brandy down my newly acquired tan. I knew the call was coming, but it didn't help my stomach stop flipping. I excused myself from the taverna table, Mini nodding in understanding as I mouthed my exes name to her, which, considering the fact that I'd gone deathly white, was probably unnecessary.

"Hi" I said, when I found a spot on the beach with no wanderers or smooching couples.

"Hi Emily" Naomi answered, surprisingly clearly for someone 5000 miles away "How's the holiday going?"

Great, I thought, what next, postcards?

"Look, Naomi..." I started but she interrupted me

"Sorry...Its none of my business, I know...I don't really know how to start this conversation"

I bit my lip, part of me still wanting to tear her a new one, the other part trying to damp down the thrill inside at just hearing her voice.

"You had something to say to me?" I said, more sharply than I intended. Fuck, this conversation wasn't something I needed right now. I heard the shocked intake of breath at the other end and winced at my ongoing need to wound her.

"I hate this...hate not being with you...not seeing you. I know you hate me now Ems..."

I sighed and looked up at the glittering stars above me.

"I don't hate you Naomi, I love you...thats just the fucking point isn't it? I hate what you did to me and I hate who you did it with, but I don't hate you...it would be so much easier if I did"

There was a pause as she sobbed gently down the phone and I swallowed one of my own. I'm sure this was a fucking expensive call, but neither of us were thinking about money at that moment.

"I'm so empty and miserable without you" she croaked finally. "I can't bear it that I can't see you, touch you. Is there anything...anything at all I can do that will make this right?"

She cried bitterly again and this time I didn't bother to stop my own tears running down my cheeks. I wanted so much to say it was OK, that I could forgive her. I missed her too, every morning when I woke without her. Every night when I curled up on my side of Mini's bed, trying to sleep. But it wasn't that easy. I could forgive a mistake. Even if it had been a one off random shag, I would have forgiven her by now. But Freddie represented a threat I knew I could never beat. Her past...her first love, if you like. If he was around, even in a small way, and this definitely wasn't a small way, I could never rest. He would always present a danger to our relationship. And she couldn't seem to let him go. I knew sooner or later he would be back, all puppy dog eyes and outstretched palms. And she would give in to him. help him. It was a trust thing, and I couldn't see how I could ever trust her again. Better to end it now.

"I don't think there is Naoms" I cried miserably "He'll always be there, won't he?...coming back for more... asking for one last chance. And you can't say no to him. He has a hold on you and I can't break it. I can't live like that, just waiting for him to turn up. And its not fair of you to ask me. Maybe its better this way. I know it hurts now...Jesus, its fucking _killing me, but at least I found out before we wasted any more time trying to make us work"

"P...please Ems" she begged "I'll do anything. We'll go away together, somewhere he can't find us. I don't want this to be the end. I love you more than I ever loved him. Please don't give up on us...I'm begging you"

I tried to say something, but the lump in my throat refused to budge. Instead I sobbed some more. Fuck, this was agony. I was going to have to be brutal if I wanted to keep my sanity.

"I...I" I tried again "I'm sorry Naomi...its over. Have a nice time in Thailand" I managed before dropping the phone on the soft sand and sinking to my knees. I didn't give a fuck about the curious stares I was getting from the people walking by. I'd just ended it with the only person I truly loved in my life and it ached so much I thought I might actually die...

XXX

But I didn't die of course. Mini made sure I got over it...albeit slowly. The next few days were spoiled by my wretched mood, but gradually she persuaded me, by means of alcohol and a friendly shoulder to cry on when it overwhelmed me, that life had to go on.

By the middle of the next week, I was (almost) OK. I'd turned off my phone and stashed it in my suitcase. Mini had hers, and on it the phone numbers of my sister and parents. So I could stay in touch if I wanted. But I didn't really. London faded into the background, let alone grimy Bristol, with its dubious memories.

Plenty of sun, ouzo and mindless drunken dancing got me out of my depression. I even bucked up enough to be OK with Mini chancing her arm with a guy on the Thursday night.

I'd seen him eying her all night. He was a bit younger than us, maybe 20? Greek, of course, tall and tanned, with over white teeth and too tight trousers, but I felt guilty about having to be chaperoned by her all holiday long, so when she asked me if I would be OK if she 'went for a walk with Christos' I agreed straight away. I was a bit fed up by then anyway, being hit on by a succession of hopeful English boys with acne, so I encouraged her to get off with him so I could go back.

They disappeared towards the sand dunes, with just one piece of advice from me

"Don't get sand in your fanny" I stage whispered to a giggling Mini "Its a bugger to get out"

Christos was mercifully unaware of my comment. Just as well I suppose. They left, and I made my way back to our villa. After a quick shower and brushed teeth, I sank into my soft mattress gratefully. My feet hurt from too much attempted Greek dancing and my head was still swimming slightly from the free drinks I had accepted from the hopefuls in the bar.

I must have drifted off straight away, because I was woken less than an hour later by a stumbling Mini, trying with the exaggerated care of the truly drunk, to navigate our villa in the dark. Unsuccessfully of course.

The lamp next to the bathroom door went on and I heard her mutter to herself. She dropped her shoes off with a grumble (nice to know I wasn't the only martyr to footwear tonight) and unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the floor.

Thats when I averted my eyes. Its weird how you can spend weeks with someone in a miniscule bikini without drooling, and yet get a flash of heat between your legs at a sideways glimpse of a partially naked breast. Well, I apologise in advance for that. I'm a healthy mid twenties lesbian who hadn't been laid for months. And Mini was hot. Not in an over the top, tits and arse Kardashian way. She was tall, slim and her tits were delightful, but she had a sexiness about her that glowed. Just naturally fuckable, I guess.

She was quite right when she said that if we'd met in a gay _bar somewhere, I would have fancied the pants off her...literally. But this was hardly the place, was it? For all I knew, she had just been royally screwed by the swivel hipped Christos. I bit my lip and forced my eyes to stay away from her impromptu striptease.

Another thump told me she had misjudged the bathroom door opening and I stifled a giggle as she cursed colourfully. Never one to miss out an expletive, our Mins, I thought.

"Fucking greasy wanker" she muttered, and I bit my lip again, she was all kinds of adorable drunk, and I was getting a command performance tonight.

I heard her vigorously cleaning her teeth, still muttering, and my good humour faded a bit.

That much teeth scrubbing gave me an entirely unwelcome mental image of what she had recently been doing to warrant it.

Eventually, after I got the extended mouthwash gargle too, which confirmed my suspicions, she walked unsteadily out of the bathroom and stood silhouetted in the doorway. I squinted in the light, but could see that she just had a tiny pair of white knickers on. Again, I turned my head away.

"Ems..." she slurred "Are you awake babes?"

"Not now" I said sternly, but she wasn't fooled, even in her pissed state. She knew I couldn't be mad at her.

"S..sorry" she hiccuped and stumbled over to my bed, sitting way too close for my liking. She smelt of toothpaste and lemon soap.

"Fucking Greek wanker" she grinned down at me crookedly as I tried to look anywhere but her pink tipped tits. I didn't think she meant me...

"Not a good shag then, despite what those trousers promised?" I ventured, cringing at the prospect of a blow by blow account of her hetero adventures.

"Wouldn't fucking know Ems...we never got that far"

I nodded seriously. How the fuck was I supposed to answer that?

"Hair trigger?" I said in what I hoped was a sympathetic tone.

"You could say that" she pouted "Big dick too...shame it only stayed that way long enough to hit the back of my throat...talk about premature...I don't even like tartar sauce on my fish course for fucks sake"

I groaned at that bit of gratuitous over description. Jesus, the thought of a cock coming in my mouth was bad enough, sitting here discussing it with someone...a fucking naked someone who had just done the dirty deed...was beyond yucky.

"Ewww Mins" I scowled, grimacing at her smirk. "Too much fucking information. Hello..confirmed lesbian here...remember?"

"Awww, sorry babes" she laughed crookedly "Forgot you were a muff muncher for a sec there. Never even tried it?"

I bristled at that.

"Actually, I have...once. Never to be repeated. Who wants a fucking pork sword rammed down their throat? Give me a soft wet fanny any day...I could take that all night"

I saw her eyes widen, and I knew I'd just made a big mistake. Christos had left her unsatisfied, and it had obviously just occurred to her that she was sitting in her knickers, on a bed next to a frustrated dyke. Recipe for trouble? You betcha.

"Ems..." she wheedled "Maybe we could...you know, just this once... I'm as horny as _fuck_, and I know you haven't..."

"No way" I said shakily, sitting up in bed, realising too late that I had gone to bed in just my knickers too "Mini...this is a really bad idea...you're straight...we're friends...It could spoil..."

"Emily Fitch" she whispered "Shut the fuck up and just kiss me"

Oh Jesus Christ on a bike I thought, as she wet her full lips and moved closer to me, her sweet breath on my lips, its gonna happen...its actually gonna happen...

XXX

Mini turned out to be a filthy talker. Which, together with her drop dead gorgeous body and extensive vocabulary of swear words, is just about the most lethally effective cocktail for the Fitch libido ever invented.

I might have been able to resist her body, although once I'd handled those surprisingly full tits and smooth skin, its doubtful. But add to that the commentary she kept up right until she arched and screamed her release and well, basically I was tied, cooked and ready for the oven.

"_You've always wanted to fuck me, haven't you Ems_?" (True)

"_Feel my nipples, they're so hard for you_..." (Also true)

"_You won't leave me hanging babes, will you..feel how wet I am for you_" (Dripping)

"_Fuck...your fingers, just like that Emily...oh shit...slow down, I'll come too quick...yeah, thats it...fuck you do that so good"_

"_Can you teach me later baby? Yeah, like that...oh fuck, never been licked so good...make me come beautiful and then I'll definitely do you...Jesus, is it always like this...why the fuck haven't we done this before?_"

Get the picture?

Once I'd reconciled myself to the fact that we were going to fuck, it really wasn't hard to persuade myself that I deserved this.

I wasn't cheating...not even a little bit. Naomi and I were over, finito, done.

It was just sex, right? OK, noisy, exhausting and satisfying sex, but still just sex...

We went at it all night. I didn't realise how much I craved hot kisses, warm skin and breathless surrender until I sampled it again. She may not have been with many women before (she confessed afterwards, when we were laying, sleepy eyed and sated in the dawn light, that the experiences she'd had in the past were more stolen kisses and fully clothed groping than actual sex) but she was a fast learner. I went down on her until she came, explosively, then she begged me to teach her how to do it that well.

My protest _that no one could teach her cunnilingus in one night was proved wrong. Once she tasted me, she was like a starving woman, faced with a Kings banquet. I've been fucked better, but not by much, and my well overdue orgasm was as powerful as I remember having in a very long time...

She didn't let me mope afterwards either. She held my head in both hands as she knelt over me and wouldn't let me start my mea culpas.

"Listen to me, Emily Fitch" she said firmly "This changes nothing. We're friends...really good friends. Nothing alters that. We've had sex, thats all. What happens here, in Corfu, stays here. I'm not in love with you and you're not in love with me...not in that way. But I DO love you too much to lose our friendship. _Don't forget it, OK"

I nodded uncertainly and she grinned before releasing me. My nostrils flared as I registered my scent on her fingers and her grin widened.

"Again?" she smirked.

"Fuck...yeah" I said hungrily and pulled those soft full lips onto mine. Her tongue pushed into my mouth and I could feel her erect nipples brushing my own,

"Talk to me again" I groaned as her hand slipped between us and found my wetness.

"You like that?" she laughed, fingers beginning to slip and slide inside me.

I laughed back, even as my hips bucked against her steady movements.

"Like you couldn't tell" I said wryly "Like you couldn't fucking tell...bitch"

She grinned again and moved her head onto my shoulder, so her lips were right next to my ear. I shuddered as she began to pour pure filth into my eager ear...

I'd like to say that night was a one off, but we did it again the night after, and again on the Saturday before we left for the airport. She was right about it not spoiling things. It didn't. It was pure animal sex. But it put a smile on my face for the last three days, and I'll always love her for doing that for me. Not that her motives were in the least altruistic, she said, and I believed her, that we had had some of the best sex she'd ever experienced. Her first proper girl lover. I was quite proud of that title.

But back in Britain, cold winds and glowering skies, we both knew it was a holiday thing. I volunteered to find a place of my own as soon as we'd unpacked and Mini agreed without protest. I think we both knew that sharing a bed was out now. Too much temptation.

So she helped me find a small basement flat in Balls Pond Road, and I was due to move in two weeks after we got back.

I had just gone to Mini's to pick up the last of my clothes (she was out shopping in Oxford Street) and was about to drag the heavy duffel bag over to the door when the doorbell went. It was Saturday morning. We weren't expecting anyone, so I huffed in annoyance, opening it to give whoever it was short shrift. Jehovah's Witnesses I could live without.

It was a woman. About Mini's height...well, at least taller than me. About 40 ish, blonde hair and a wide, pleasant smile. I steeled myself for the inevitable sales pitch. Whatever she was selling, I wasn't buying.

"Emily?" she said brightly

I stiffened in surprise. What the f...?"

She held out her hand, And I shook it automatically.

"We've never met...but I've heard all about you from my daughter..."

I swallowed and blinked at her stupidly...who...what...

"Oh, silly me" she chuckled "You have no idea who I am do you?.."

"I'm Gina Campbell...Naomi's mum..."

Now that WAS a show stopper.

**And thats it until the next update. Gina Campbell...whatever next.**

**Review? Thanks! **


	8. Chapter 8

**On with the story then. As someone said in a review "Gina Campbell in da house"!**

**I still don't own Skins, but I'd make it toast the morning after.**

**Typo's mine. Plot mine, characters sadly not.**

Emily

I sort of went numb when Gina said who she was. '_What the fuck?_' was my initial reaction. The last thing I expected Naomi to pull was sending her estranged mum over from Thailand to sweet talk me round.

I steeled myself to be neutral, distant, indifferent.

But she wasn't at all like I expected. She had a presence about her. Hard to describe. It was like she wasn't any older than me, but at the same time ridiculously logical and maternal. About the polar opposite of my mother in fact.

We sat down on Mini's couch, like two bookends, and I let her speak.

Gina proceeded to debunk my theory on who sent her immediately.

She smiled at me kindly before speaking.

"First of all Emily, I want you to know that Naomi _didn't_ send me. In fact she'd probably disown me if she knew I was here. She never did like me getting involved with her personal life, especially when its something this raw...this important"

I nodded dumbly. What was I supposed to say to that?

She smiled at me again before continuing. If this was the good cop/bad cop routine, bad cop had the day off, obviously.

"I know I've not been around since you two met up, but even with Naomi's determination to keep me in the dark about everything, I think I've got a rough idea whats gone on. I know you got together after the win on the Lottery...and you got...very close...and then moved in together. I also know it all went to shit...which is why she turned up in Thailand, looking like she was about to die on the spot from heartbreak. Which she still does, by the way..."

That hurt, but I filed it away and nodded again. So far she was on the money.

"But I don't know WHY it all went sideways. She won't tell me. But I know my daughter. And I also know her history. Would it have something to do with an over medicated loser called Frederick McClair?"

I nodded for the third time and she made a little face of disapproval.

"Thought so..." she said sadly. "That boy was never any good to her...well, I suppose thats not entirely fair... in the early days, after she lost the baby and needed someone to cling to, he was there for her. And thats mostly my fault. Naomi was so determined to do her own thing, I thought, as she was 17, I could let her and follow my own dream abroad. Stupid ignorant woman that I am. She probably needed me more then than she had done for years. And I take the blame for that...I fucked her up, in my own bumbling way"

She paused and looked out of the window for a moment.

"But all that aside, I know only too well that my daughter doesn't need any help to make a bad situation worse. She's bad tempered, stubborn, short sighted and sometimes completely blind to the consequences of her actions...and I'm being polite here"

My mouth dropped open at that. The last thing I expected was for her to launch into an attack on Naomi's character. I had to restrain myself from defending her. This was bizarre, I thought grimly. Shouldn't it be me reading off a list of my ex's faults to her adoring mum?

Gina smiled again at my puzzled expression and continued.

"But she's also kind, loyal, generous and has a heart as big as a house. Which I'm sure you already know all too well. We don't know each other Emily, but what I do know is that my daughter has never lost her heart to anyone the way she has to you. I spent years watching her try to bend herself into a conventional shape that fit what she thought she should be. Getting pregnant to that rogue Cook was the first big problem, but I'd seen the way she acted with pretty girls when she was younger...the way she _looked_ at them... before Cook or Freddie came along. She might think gayness and experimental youth was invented in 1995, but believe me, I've had my share of fun with other girls. Its whats called finding out about yourself"

I swallowed hard at that confession. I found myself praying that she wouldn't start relating her no doubt fascinating teenage lesbian experiments to me. That would have been _too_ weird. But luckily, that was the full extent of her wander down rainbow memory lane.

"But Naomi was always drawn to the security and safeness of being with men, even if it wasn't what her heart or body wanted. Freddie was just an easy and safe escape route. She certainly didn't love him, although she ended up being very fond of him, but he represented what she thought people called 'normal', whatever the fuck that is"

I blinked at her swearing, but to be honest, it didn't surprise me. It didn't look like Gina Campbell did conventional at all...

"But living a lie caught up with her. She met you...and even only knowing about you through letters and phone calls, I knew she had finally admitted what she was and had found someone she could be brave for, be the Naomi underneath the artificial shell . The money she won was just an added complication. I think if she had met you on a night out at bingo, she would have fallen just as hard...and she did fall hard, as I suspect you did too"

I nodded again, but this time I had to say something. It looked like this monologue could go on all night, and as pleasant and reasonable as Gina seemed, it didn't change the facts, did it?

"But look..." I said "That's all fine and true, and I wouldn't expect you to do anything else, other than stick up for your daughter. But she _lied_ to me...snuck around, meeting Freddie behind my back, even after us being together...a proper couple...for a year, for Christ's sake. How could I ever trust her again?"

Gina nodded.

"I get that Emily, I really do. Her misplaced loyalty to Freddie cost her the most important person in her life...you...but you have to understand that she knows that now. I'm not asking you to risk everything again. I know how hard it must have been for you after she did that, giving up your home, your job, your love...and God knows, it can't just go back to how it was. She knows that too. But what she desperately needs now is a friend. I know you can be that friend. Don't give up on her completely. I'm asking you to just be her friend if thats all you can be...help her understand how she can be free of him. Just be there...no romance, no make up...just..."

She ran out of words and just looked at me.

I shook my head.

"I don't think you know what you're asking Gina" I said sadly "How the hell can I be her friend? She broke my fucking heart...I'm not made of stone"

"And she broke her own doing it" Gina whispered, reaching across and covering my hands "I think you can help to heal each other. Just _talk_ to her, make her believe that you don't hate her. I don't like putting it this way, because it sounds like blackmail, but I really don't think she can move on with her life if you aren't a part of it. Won't you at least try?...I can see you still have feelings for her"

My heart wanted to say yes, but my head was internally screaming at me to say no. I breathed out long and hard. What the fuck did I do?

Finally I reluctantly nodded. There was no way I wanted to rekindle what was gone. It was still too raw, too painful. But I knew only too well how vulnerable a lottery winner could be to new 'friends'. Within 6 months, if I left her in this broken state, she would be swindled out of the bulk of it by the first smooth talking grifter she opened her heart to. Its happened before. And I didn't want that on my conscience.

The smile on Gina's face was as bright as the sun. She jumped up from the couch and enveloped me in a hug my Dad would have been proud of. I felt I had to damp down her expectations. No way was I gonna just forget what just happened. She had to know that.

"Look Gina" I said, struggling to release myself from her hear hug "_Just_ friends, right?"

"Yeah...just friends" she beamed "She's back tomorrow. I said I'd fly over in advance to sort a few things out. She's got this idea about buying a little cottage in the middle of nowhere. I think her plan is to bury herself away somewhere no one knows her and do her best to imitate a hermit...a fucking minted hermit...but anyway...do you know any good rural Estate Agents?"

I just looked at her in amazement. Anyone less like Naomi, I couldn't imagine. This woman flitted from one subject to the next, without drawing breath.

"Err...maybe..."I said "But how am I going to just 'bump into her'? Its not like we move in the same super rich circles, do we?"

"Oh...pfffft, details" Gina grinned "Why don't you suggest a nice quiet pub, where you can 'accidentally' be having lunch on, say, Sunday afternoon at 2? I'll persuade her to take me out for one of those slap up meals she's been promising me for ages...and bingo...you two can talk, I'll bugger off and chat up the barman while you mend some fences. Easy, huh?"

I don't think I have heard a weaker or less plausible plan since Pandora suggested 'accidentally' tripping over into Thomas's lap when we were 16. But fuck it, my heart had already won the inner Fitch battle. If I was going to try to be Naomi's platonic friend, she'd have to swallow her own disbelief too.

XXX

And that's why, two days later, I'm sitting at the bar in the Compleat Angler restaurant in Marlow. Its the sort of place only the really rich go to. Set on the banks of the Thames, with views over the river towards the picture postcard medieval town, it costs the earth to eat here. £200 would be a cheap lunch for two. I had to call in heavy duty favours from my ex boss at Camelot to get him to book it for me. If I had called direct, I'd have got the 6 week wait treatment. But a call from Camelot usually unlocks the maitre d's exclusive booking folder. Result, a table for three, with only one name on the reservation. Campbell.

I got there early and found myself a spot close to the dining area, but hidden from anyone coming in via the main doors. A Mai Tai cost me a days wages, and I settled down to wait.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, I heard the unmistakeable laughter of one Campbell senior.

Gina walked in first, wearing what could only be described as a lurid green floral outfit. I don't know who suggested plaid and flowers as a combination, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't her daughter. Naomi had fitted in immediately to the newly rich arena. Her clothes normally erred on the side of conservatism, if anything. Lots of plain colours and small but expensive accessories were more her style.

Naomi walked in behind her, elegant as always. She had on a cream summer dress which accentuated her long tanned legs. The blue blazer over it was definitely Bond Street, probably north of £1000. Nice to see she was still wearing it well, despite the break up I thought wryly...

But, to be fair, her face didn't match the outfit. Her eyes had a dark underscoring which had nothing to do with makeup. And she wasn't sharing her mums laughter. I think the lunch date wasn't her favourite idea today.

As I looked, she smiled indulgently at her mums exuberance, but the smile only lasted until Gina turned away. I felt my heart lurch at her obvious unhappiness. I know it wasn't my fault that she felt so low, but I felt guilty anyway.

The attentive maitre d fussed round them, masking his surprise at Gina's outfit with the smooth elegance of the true professional. Soon enough they were seated and I saw Naomi's face crease with puzzlement as she saw the extra place set with monogrammed silver cutlery and Edinburgh crystal glasses.

I watched as she leaned over to her mother and mouthed a question. Gina just flapped her hand as the waiter passed them a menu each and went to get the wine list. Naomi's expression changed from bored acceptance to indifference as she scanned the ruinously priced menu. I guess she didn't get shocked any more at high prices.

But, like me, she had never been one for ostentatious shows of wealth, so I knew it would be internally paining her to read about £40 starters and £75 main courses. Her mind would be calculating how many poor families could eat for a month just on one course. But she smiled politely as the waiter gave them the drinks folder and hovered over them for the order.

I'd sat there long enough, so I emptied the last of my cocktail in one, slid off my stool and started to walk over. I smoothed down my tight black skirt and gave myself a last once over in the reflection of the window before taking a deep breath. I was to one side of them, so Gina saw me first. She feigned surprise so badly, it looked like she was auditioning for a minor role in EastEnders. God, she was a bad actress...

I saw Naomi take in her mock shocked expression and follow her eyes.

"Hello Naomi...Gina" I said softly.

The second Naomi's eyes met mine, it was like the whole busy restaurant faded into a grey nothing. Her mum was saying something and the attentive waiter was holding out a chair for me to sit on, but it was all background hum.

She smiled uncertainly at me and then turned towards her mother.

"You fucking _cow_..." she started, which had the effect of freezing the professional smile on the waiters face. He looked at us in turn, confused I suppose at the sudden change of mood.

Gina just laughed gaily and motioned for me to sit down. I did, still locking eyes with Naomi, who had turned back to watch me..

"Hi Naomi" I said in a voice steadier than I felt.

"Hi Ems" she answered quietly and flicked another glance at her mum.

"Your mum thought it was about time we talked...like grown ups" I said seriously "And before you give her a bollocking for interfering...I think she's right"

Naomi swallowed and dropped her eyelids over those intense blue eyes, which at least freed me from my temporary paralysis.

"I thought you didn't...I mean you said we were..." she struggled, still looking down. I knew what she was trying to say. I had cut her off so decisively on that phone call recently, she probably never thought we would be in the same room again together. I admit I felt a bit of shame at that. I never wanted to hurt her so badly, but just being near her was affecting me enough. God knows how I'd react if we were physically any closer. I didn't trust _myself_, that was the problem.

"Yeah, well..." I sighed. "Things change, I suppose"

She nodded blankly.

Gina reached across and picked up the discarded wine list from the pristine white table cloth, whistling at the prices. I knew how she felt, a decent Shiraz in here would set you back a cool £100 any day of the week, but that was hardly my priority at the moment. Those cerulean eyes piercing me from the opposite side of the table definitely was...

Small talk was performed. Gina admitted (pointlessly) to having contacted me and setting this lunch up. I don't think Naomi needed a diagram drawn. From the second she spotted me, she knew what her mum had done, but anyway, we ghost walked through a decent bottle of Margeaux and some dainty and exotic hors d'ouvres before Gina excused herself to 'get a bit of air before the main course'. The waiter backed off when I growled at him to leave us alone for ten minutes before ordering the meat courses. If I was truthful, delicious or not, the menu didn't do much for me. I seemed to have left my appetite back in central London. Strange that...

So we sipped more wine and skirted about things in general, swapping inanities for a while until Naomi popped the million dollar question.

"Ems...?" she said quietly "Why now...why did you come?"

I thought about it for a couple of seconds. Why had I come? I knew it was going to be awkward, painful and almost certainly unproductive. Why WAS I here?

"If I'm honest Naoms" I said, slipping back into pet names far too easily "I don't really know. You hurt me so badly...twice...I promised myself I'd never have anything to do with you again"

She nodded in agreement. I'm guessing she'd come to accept that by now.

"But your mum...who's a bit of a loose cannon it seems...doesn't play by anyone else's rules does she?"

Naomi shook her head and smiled hesitantly at me.

"Never has...the crazy bitch...she's been interfering in my love life ever since I kissed Robin Ford at Junior School, when I was 11. Probably never gonna stop now, meddling bitch"

I shared a small grin with her on that one. Until I'd had the courage to stand up to my own mother at 18, I'd endured her 'vetting' of any prospective partners with gritted teeth. My mother still thought I was going through a phase with girls, and every Christmas, some unsuspecting distant male relative was tasked with the chore of sitting next to me, in an attempt to seduce me away from the dark side. I think if I brought a girl to the meal and performed cunnilingus on her under the tree as an entree, my mum would still put it down to an excess of aunt Annie's elderflower wine. Some people never give up. But this wasn't solving our problem, was it?

I took a deep breath and said what I had come to say.

"Look Naomi...we can't change whats happened...but we've both been changed by it. I'm a lot less trusting now, and that's your fault...well, you and the delightful Freddie, anyway"

I heard her sharp intake of breath, but ploughed on, keeping my eyes pointed a few degrees away from her stare. I didn't trust myself not to cave in completely if she held my eyes with hers.

"But I never have, and never will hate you. I loved you before, and thats not something that can just go away. But I'm not prepared to risk it all happening again...so don't think its all OK, and we can go back to how it was"

I did risk a look at her then. Sure enough, those startling eyes were brimming with unshed tears. I swallowed myself, willing my heart to stop thumping so damned much. It was totally unfair how just a look from her disarmed me. It was scary.

"I'm so, so sorry..." she started, but I reached over and touched the top of her hand with mine. That was a mistake. The jolt hit both of us like a burst of static. I felt her flinch, then relax under my palm. Fuck, I wished that she didn't still have that effect on me, I thought.

"I don't mean that as brutally as it came out" I said gently

"I still have feelings for you...but things can't just go back to how they were. Freddie is still there, in the background, even though you say he's gone for good. We both know thats not true. His sort _always_ come back for more. But I'm not here to talk about him. Can we just be friends for now Naomi?...Your mum thinks you need one, and I've been miserable too...not knowing how you are, what you're doing. I think if we just _be_ there for each other...perhaps it won't hurt so much...what do you think?"

She turned her palm upwards until her hand was gripping mine, nodding furiously.

"I'll do anything Em..." she said, wiping her eyes with her free hand "I said I would, and I meant it. If you just want us to be friends...then I'll be satisfied with that. I want you in my life. So the answer's yes...yes I want us to be friends...more than anything I've ever wanted"

This time our shared smile was brighter, less laden with dark thoughts and fears. Perhaps this could work?

XXX

And so it began...a sort of strange half life. We agreed to meet up the following week for lunch. It was strained at first, but she had always, ever since I first trudged up those grimy stairs to 'cat shit mansion' as I called it, been able to charm me. Naomi without the angst was funny, smart and very very un PC on life in general. Within an hour we were swapping anecdotes about people we met on holiday. I thought it best to skate over the change in status of my relationship with Mini, although it had thankfully settled back into friendship again. Bit ironic, I suppose, having lunch with one ex lover whilst avoiding the subject of my most recent bed partner.

Anyway, Angus was back from Aberdeen and I had endured quite enough lurid stories from Mins about his sex starved re entry into her life, thanks all the same. I have no interest in what a Scotsman keeps under his kilt, much less what he does with it...tossing cabers was never my pastime of choice. Highland Games indeed...

So lunch was followed by another the next week. Gina called round once, just to see how we were getting on. It felt quite nice to just be able to say fine...and mean it. I remembered that Naomi was my best friend as well as my lover.

I put Naomi in touch with an upmarket rural Estate agent in Suffolk, and we went together to have a look at some cottages. She was serious about finding a hideaway in the countryside, and with her funds, she could pretty much take her pick of all the idyllic cottages she liked..

After two more weekends of driving up to Ipswich and spending Saturday looking round, I suggested we stay over at an hotel, then we could look Sunday too. Naomi really loved the coast, so the search concentrated on the Southwold area. Its a bit retro chic, and expensive too, but like I said, money wasn't the issue. We'd put the awkwardness behind us and I was beginning to think we could make this work.

Just as friends, you understand.

OK, there were a few accidental brushes of hands and too long looks from both of us, but I saved my doubts for when we were apart. I don't really know how she was dealing with it inside, but I guess she found it as hard as me.

And then, just when the whole house hunting thing was going well...she had found, well, I had found, a three bed roomed thatched cottage in five acres of grounds just outside Walberswick, which was perfect. All it was short of was the roses round the door. The seller was an old lady, just about to go into a retirement home. I thought the £750,000 was a bit steep, but Naomi was in love with the place from the moment we got out of her car (unfortunately, she was still addicted to yellow, so although the Porsche was gone, it had been replaced with a similarly garish Range Rover Evoque)

An hour of ducking beams, cooing over range cookers and a tour of the garden...which was massive, all mature trees, manicured lawn and wild flower borders, sealed it. The place was paradise by the sea.

So the deal was done, cash paid promptly to hold it, and I promised to come back up with her the following weekend to measure up for furniture and curtains etc...One rural hideaway purchased.

We were just booking into a bed and breakfast place (separate rooms), the Saturday morning after that, when her phone burbled its ring tone as we stood in reception. Naomi glanced down at the phone and I saw her face freeze.

I looked at the caller display and my face must have mirrored hers, because she looked at it as if it had grown teeth.

"_Freddie_" I said, flashing blue.

Naomi looked at me. I looked back at her with a face like stone.

"I'...I'd better take this" she said weakly. I nodded and turned away.

Nothing really changes, does it?

**Oh dear...you just knew the bad penny would turn up, just when our girls are staring to bond again, didn't you? More soon...**

**Finishing up Beautiful Combinations next. If anyone's still interested. Many thanks for the reviews on all my stories. Just as an aside, I _will_ finish everything, even the almost abandoned OILZZ and Rainy Days. I hate reading stories which finish abruptly, sometimes permanently, without resolution, so rest assured I won't leave them like that. Promise.**

**Review? Thanks so much!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi again! :**

**On with Lottery Fever then. Thanks so much for the support. It really helps**.

Naomi

I looked at Emily as she stared at the name flashing on the screen of my phone. She tried hard, I'll give her that, but the tensing of her shoulders and the hardening of her eyes gave it away. We'd been doing so well too. OK, just _friends_, you understand? Chatting, having coffee and lunch (no dinners...too much like temptation I think, for her and me...). And then there was the house hunting. She'd been my saviour, dealing with oily estate agents and uppity home owners equally with tact and diplomacy. But her soft exterior covered a heart of steel, when she wanted it to. No one fucked with Emily Fitch, not in business anyway. People just broke her sweet little heart. And I burned for that sin.

But with one random phone call, everything we'd gained seemed to go backwards, fast. She glanced up at me and flashed a thin plastic smile.

"I'll just get my bags upstairs...let me know when you want to meet up later" she said coldly.

"Ems..." I tried weakly, trying not to thumb the answer call button yet

"Don't..." she said flatly "Just answer the call Naomi...if you have to"

With that, she turned on her heel and went upstairs.

The receptionist's professional smile never faltered.

"I"ll get your bags taken up" she said "Perhaps when you've finished your call?"

I nodded and at last hit the green key on my phone. I should have ignored it, I know, it could only mean trouble, but I was still weak when it came to him. Not because I wanted to get back with him, not even that I wanted us to still be friends...its weird really, I still felt as though I owed him. Owed him for the nights he held me while I sobbed over my lost baby, my lost future, my lost everything. He'd been there for me then, and it still felt like I owed him...like I said, stupid, I know. I was risking everything the past few weeks with Emily had started to repair.

"Hello" I said, hoping he'd already gone...but of course he hadn't

"Naoms?" he said. It sounded like he was a long way away, which is a fucking stupid thing to say, I know, considering the satellite signal has to bounce off a fucking great lump of metal up in space, but whatever...

"What do you want Freddie?" I said abruptly, knowing the answer could only be money.

"I need your help" he coughed. Wherever he was, I had no doubt a super sized herbal cigarette was in his other hand.

"I thought we'd sorted this out Freds...I gave you £75 thousand, as well as the million you pissed away last year...you fuck off to Brazil, and we don't see each other again" I hissed angrily.

The receptionist was doing a very bad job of pretending not to listen. I moved further into an alcove by the entrance, shooting her one of my best fuck off stares as I did.

"I know...I know..." he answered "but they found me babes...I needed to run...and you know, its expensive out there, I had to fuck off quick...so..."

"Hang on" I stuttered " What do you mean, out _there_? You were supposed to stay gone Freddie. Are you fucking nuts...South America not big enough for you to hide in?"

"I'm back in England...Bristol Naoms...back in our old flat...I slipped Jonny White a thou and he let me have it back. Said he'd make sure I was protected...but he needs paying, and I'm down to my last few hundred...can we meet up?"

"No!" I said, too loudly, because the nosy receptionist gave me a hard stare "No I can't meet you. When are we gonna be done with this Freddie? I don't owe you anything any more. You've bled me long enough. You cost me everything, last time you interfered in my life, I lost Emily you fucking twat...do you know how hard that was for me. I spent months...fucking _months_, crying myself to sleep, and now you want me to get mixed up with your shit again. Fuck off...Oh, and if you think Jonny White is a safe pair of hands to put yourself into, you need to lay off that skunk. Its addling whats left of your tiny brain. He'll dob you in to the Albanians in a second, if they offer him a wedge of readies...if I was you, I'd leave now and never come back"

I paused for breath, still amazed that Freddie could surprise me with his utter stupidity. Getting involved with ruthless drug dealers from Eastern Europe was bad enough. Putting yourself in the hands of a provincial thug like White for protection was beyond dumb. You might as well ask a shark if he'd eaten lately.

"Listen babe..." he started

"Not your babe anymore Freddie, haven't been for a long time. In case you didn't get the news flash, I'm gay..and currently trying to repair my relationship with the best person who ever came into my life. GAY Freddie, not fucking stupid"

The receptionist was just flat out listening now. I don't think this part of rural Suffolk had many gay lottery winners with fugitive ex boyfriends to speak of. I was certainly attracting interest.

"Look..." I said finally "I'll do one last thing for you. I'll drop a holdall with another £50k in it somewhere you can collect it. And that's that. The next time you call me, I'll pass it on to a couple of gentlemen for them to educate you about bothering me any more. Lets face it...£50k to you or £50K to them to make you disappear, which is better value, huh?"

I had no idea where I could hire hit men, but he didn't know that, did he?

Freddie agreed, reluctantly, he wanted £100 grand and a bag of sovereigns, for fucks sake, but I was conscious of Emily pacing her room upstairs, imagining the worst. I just wanted him off the phone so I could do a bit of damage limitation of my own.

"Take it or leave it. Final offer Freds" I gritted.

"OK Naoms" he said quietly "Fair enough. I'll be in the lay by next to the zoo...you know the one where you gave me a bl..."

"OK..." I said hurriedly. Last thing I wanted to be reminded of was sucking him off in some leafy lay by. Jesus, unwanted memories much? "I know the fucking place, I don't need all our sexual yesterdays to remind me thanks all the same"

He chuckled dirtily and I shuddered at the unwanted images he'd put in my head. Apart from an overwhelming desire never to have an erection in my mouth ever again, it reminded me of a time when I was almost always compliant to his demands. Going down on him in a layby wasn't the worst of it. I swore colourfully again, telling him to keep his porno memories to himself, otherwise no cash.

Chastened, he apologised.

He hung up after that and I stared for a few seconds at my dead phone. What the hell was I doing?

If I'd known how much that phone call would cost me in the end, I would have made a run for it there and then...

I went upstairs with a heavy heart. The only thing I could think of was that I had to tell Emily everything, right now. This whole Freddie disaster was made infinitely worse by keeping it to myself before. She might not even want to discuss it, but at least I could try.

I knocked nervously on her door and heard her tell me to come in. She was standing in the middle of the room, still in her coat, with her unpacked bags at her feet. Chewing her nail, I'm guessing she was deciding whether to fuck off there and then. I know I would in her position.

I didn't try to touch her or make excuses. I didn't think she'd want either. Instead I walked past her and sat on the edge of the bed, facing her.

"Emily...I know how this looks. And I know I have absolutely no right to expect you to trust me. You were right all along. He's never going to leave me alone. Not voluntarily anyway"

I paused to see her looking down at me with an unreadable expression.

"And...?" she said

"And, I need to find a way out of this. He's in trouble with some really nasty people. Drug gangsters from Albania. They want the £50,000 he owes them, but I don't think he's telling me everything. He's holed up in our old flat in Bristol, courtesy of the local heavies, but they're bleeding him dry because they know he has access to cash..._my_ cash. What the fuck do I do?"

I left out the bit about me agreeing to pay him off, I thought that could wait until I saw how she reacted to me telling her the truth about the phone call first.

For a moment, as Emily stood there biting her lip, I thought she might just shrug and fuck off anyway. I wouldn't have blamed her. Freddie meant nothing but trouble to her. Ever since we hooked up he had brought her nothing but despair. But this was my Emily, and anyone who thought she was a pushover was sadly mistaken. Present her with a problem she could solve, and she would furrow her pretty brow, before tackling it head on. I saw her nod, as if to herself before looking me straight in the eyes.

"I should tell you to sort out your own mess, Freddie fucking McClair and all..." she started, raising one immaculately manicured eyebrow. I knew that look well.

"But you won't" I ventured "Because you're Emily Fitch...the bravest person I know"

She gave me a brief grin before her face clouded again.

"Which is all very well, but I think Albanian drug gangs are a bit above my pay grade" she said wryly "But I do know someone...a guy I knew at college. Bit of a geek, joined the forensic intelligence team at Scotland Yard straight from his Doctorate at uni. He'll know someone who knows someone...you understand?..."

My look of horror must have registered, because she stopped then abruptly.

"What" she said, eyes narrowing at my pained expression.

"Sorry Ems..." I said, making my face as neutral as I could "Its just...where I'm from, the Police aren't exactly trusted citizens. What with my mum knocking their helmets off regularly at demos, and the fact that half the Bristol cops are, or have been on Jonny Whites payroll at some stage, its not the first suggestion I would have thought of..."

She frowned at that.

"Well, we're not exactly bursting with options here, are we"

I shook my head. She was right. Sorting out this mess alone wasn't one of my best ideas.

"We'll contact JJ, thats his nickname...Jeremiah Jones is a bit of a mouthful, huh? See what he can come up with. We've got to come up with an answer which doesn't involve you or Freddie sleeping with the fishes...and preferably without dropping £50 grand either. I know money isn't exactly a problem for you...but once they latch on to tye fact that you're Freddies bottomless source of cash, they won't give up. Fuck that for a game of soldiers..."

I nodded again. It sounded better than just dropping fifty k off at a layby and hoping it would work. She was probably bang on the money. Once we fed the beast, it just made it more hungry. And with Jonny White in the picture, things got even more complicated.

We sat on the bed, after Emily had left a message for J J at the Yard. At least she wasn't showing any more signs of bailing on me.

An hour later, unpacked, we met in the deserted dining room. Emily had been contacted by this JJ guy and he'd agreed to meet us in London the following day. I told Ems about promising to drop some cash off to Freddie in Bristol (avoiding any mention of why that particular lay by held memories for me and a certain lanky stoner). She told me off, in no uncertain terms about risking myself for him, but agreed to come with me on Monday to Bristol. We'd meet up with JJ, then drive on down the M4 to Bristol.

XXX

The meeting with JJ was a bit surreal, but informative nonetheless. Apparently he was a bit of a high flier in the Met, with a couple of underlings and his own PA. Emily explained that his Asbergers didn't affect his astronomical IQ...in fact it seemed to enhance it. On the way down the A11, she listed his academic achievements, which were impressive. Aced his A levels, a double first at Cambridge, followed by a Doctorate. The Met had taken him on in their criminal intelligence department to boost the brain cell count. after a year, he had taken control of the department. His team worked on organised crime and, luckily for us, he had some experience in dealing with Eastern European mobsters. However, what he told us wasn't comforting at all...

"Basically Emily...Naomi, your 'friend' couldn't have picked a worse group to fall foul of" he said somberly "Albanian gangs are most often family based, Mafia type organizations, but more insular. Difficult to read, impossible to infiltrate. You'd need to come from the particular village they originated from to get any true intelligence on them. And they're utterly ruthless. Human life, especially from outside the 'family' is so cheap, its almost worthless. It will depend on whether they actually just want their money back, or if they consider its a matter of 'honour'. I'm afraid, if thats the case, this Freddie character is a dead man walking, to borrow a crude American phrase. Nothing you do, including paying them off, will have the slightest effect. I know you won't want to hear this, but you'd be better off walking away from it now, before you get in any deeper. I'm afraid you being a lottery winner, Naomi, would be a very attractive target for them"

He paused long enough for Emily to pass me a much needed handkerchief. She looked at me sadly. She must have known how that would affect me. I know she had absolutely no love for Freddie, and with what he'd got up to to try and split us up, I understand that, but she also knew I felt I owed him, although she would probably say God knows what for...

"Naoms...?" she said huskily "I know what you're thinking, and you're right. Left up to me, Freddie would have to sort out his own shit. But you're my best friend (I winced at that...at one time we were a whole lot more than friends) and I care about you. If JJ can offer any sort of way out of this, short of you getting personally involved, I'll be there for you. Freddie might be a no good waster, but you care what happens to him, so I'll..."

I squeezed her hand gratefully and looked back at JJ.

"OK" he says in a businesslike tone "This is strictly off the record, because...well, although I'm not actually a policeman, I am bound by the same regulations and codes...and..."

Emily fixed him with a patient smile and interrupted his monologue.

"JJ..."

"Sorry...still some of the old habits in there..." he mumbles before shaking his head and continuing.

"So...we could involve the serious crimes unit, but they tend to be a bit gung ho and heavy handed. Like as not end up in a shootout...lots of bodies...oh, sorry Naomi" he smiled awkwardly at me. "Likewise robbery squad...and to be honest, because its Bristol, I'm afraid their own 'finest' will get involved. So official stuff can wait until it gets more concrete. How would you feel NaomI, about testing out their intentions? If you can afford it, you could try paying them off, via Freddie of course?"

He sat back in his chair. We looked at him silently, before Emily erupted.

"For fucks sake JJ...if it was just a matter of paying them off, we'd do it ourselves. What if they take the money and kill him anyway...what if they still come after Naoms after killing him? Give us something better than that mate?"

JJ bent his fingers into a steeple and pursed his lips. He looked a bit like a vicar about to give a sermon and I had an unaccountable urge to giggle, like we really were in church.

"Ahhh, right, well there is that" he said slowly "But I hadn't finished...I said we could _TRY_ the payoff. I'm not suggesting that's the end of it...far from it. I know a guy in Bristol, from my college days. Spent a couple of years in the Army...as a sort of clean up guy. Used to dealing with very undesirable characters. He doesn't come cheap...about £600 a day, last time I checked, but he's reliable, hard as nails and cunning. Let him drop the cash, have a word with Freddie, maybe even this Jonny White character...you'd just be in the background?"

Well, that sounded 100% better, and I heard Emily sigh gratefully at the same time as me. We had a plan...of sorts. A few more details, some contact numbers swapped, and we were on our way. I had already arranged for £50,000 in used notes, bundled into an anonymous grey holdall, to be ready for us at Coutts in the Strand. Being rich had its advantages. So, then across London, onto the A4, then M4. My Evoque was fast, comfortable and air conditioned. We made good time, and after Emily had spoken to this Steve guy, we arranged to meet in the services before the Bristol turn off.

Like I said, the car made good time and we ended up being early. Its not as if we would be hard to spot, so we put a simple note inside the windscreen, telling the guy where we were

Not even a lottery winners wealth can improve the menu or service at a motorway stop, so we passed on the congealed mess offered at the counter and settled for a mocha and donut each.

Ten minutes passed and as we'd been in the car for hours, there wasn't much small talk left in either of us. After drinking the barely warm coffee, we decided to go back to the car to wait. On the way across the car park, I decided to chance my arm. Although we hadn't found it easy, we had settled into a sort of close friendship since my mother interfered. I remembered how much I actually liked Emily, as well as loving her. I didn't want to jeopardise that, but the question of where we went from here, given that Freddie actually did get out of this alive, still obsessed me. If we were going into danger, even vicariously, I had to know.

"Ems.." I said as we got to the car

"Yeah?" she smiled, turning back to me

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure..." she said, her brow creasing in puzzlement. I looked into those deep brown eyes and took a deep breath.

"Can I carry out a little experiment?" I said, stepping closer to her. I saw her eyes widen and she flicked a quick look at my mouth. My pulse started to race. This could all go spectacularly wrong...but I couldn't stop myself trying.

"Wh...what..." she breathed as I got within kissing distance. Again she looked at my lips and this time, licked her own. God, if that wasn't a signal, I don't know what is. I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers. She sighed, closed her eyes and her lush lips parted just a fraction. I could feel the electricity arcing between us. The rest of the world seemed to fade into the background as I did it again, this time pressing slightly harder.

She moaned. Not a big, take me now..right here...type moan, but a small, yes please one. This time when I pressed closer, her mouth opened wider. I felt her small tongue hunt for mine and then I heard myself moaning too.

I don't honestly know where it would all have led to, with her kissing me like that, I would have been up for rolling under the car and just going for it...but just as her hands cupped my face and her knee began to press between my thighs a car horn sounded, right by us. We sprang apart like two adolescents caught heavy petting by their parents.

It was a guy in his late twenties, short fair hair and sunglasses. I knew he had clocked us kissing, but to give him credit, apart from a small twitch at the corner of his mouth, he didn't do any of the obvious male stuff. Cook would have howled like a wolf and rubbed his crotch at such a public lesbian display. Strike one for professionalism then...

"Afternoon ladies" he said, pleasantly enough. He was driving a nondescript silver Golf and I gave him another merit mark for not looking too much like a hit man.

"Steve?" I said, stepping away from Emily. She still had a slightly glazed expression on her face. I stifled the inner cheer which threatened to become external. I was thrilled she still seemed to be as affected my my kisses as I was from hers, but now really wasn't the time.

Ten minutes later, we'd done the introductions. Steve was clipped and precise in his speech, confirming everything JJ had told him about the situation.

"So, basically, this is a controlled drop, with a couple of side conversations afterwards. No drama, just a test to see if the Albo's are just looking for their cash, or..."

He left the alternative unsaid, but we all knew what he meant.

I nodded. So did Emily.

"OK...so you have the cash?" he asked "And the destination...any particular reason for this lay by Naomi?"

My face burned, which gained me a small tight smile from Steve and a wide eyed look from Emily which turned harder when the penny dropped. I had no need to expand on my facial expression. Both of them knew it had sexual connotations. Steve just had better control. I knew that little gem had been filed away in Emily's brain for later interrogation. Suddenly that memorable kiss in the car park wasn't quite so promising.

We got up from the bench on the grass we had been sitting at and walked back to my car. Giving Steve the bag and directions, we were told to book into the Best Western Hotel on Victoria Square. About half a mile from the zoo and the suspension bridge. I spent quite a lot of my youth on the down overlooking the gorge. First as a leggy child, having picnics and playing softball. Then as a teenager, getting felt up by various spotty adolescents, learning the power of keeping my legs crossed. Shame that fucker Cook had the key to my padlock...most of my problems stemmed from a moment if weakness caused by his persistence and the oversized dick he had pressed into my hand...I shuddered internally at the all too vivid memories of that single sexual encounter.

How the fuck had I ever persuaded myself that I was straight? One mostly unsatisfactory shag with the college Lothario, an unwanted pregnancy followed by a mercifully quick miscarriage, then years of boring missionary sex with Freddie. The wasted years...when I could have been loved up with Emily Fitch, with her clever tongue, creamy body and seductive smile. What a complete fool I had been...

And now I was still trying to rescue Freddie, long after I should have let him take his chances. Fifty grand might only be a weeks interest, but I had the awful feeling this couldn't end well.

XXX

We checked into the hotel after a bit of an argument in reception. Our twin bedded room had mysteriously transformed into a double. I swore by all that is holy I didn't do it on purpose, but Emily gave me a very suspicious look, especially after that kiss in the car park. They had no other rooms, so we were stuck with it. Did I object strongly? Did I fuck...I hadn't shared a bed with Emily for months...do I look like someone who would object?

Nope, didn't think so...

We only had an hour before the drop was to take place, so just enough time to unpack and have a couple of orange juices in the bar. I wasn't going to touch any alcohol unless and until this was all over, Freddie gone and Steve paid off. I don't know about Emily, but I was wired tighter than I'd ever been on coke...

We put my phone on the side, next to us, as we sat in the window seat, looking out over the overpriced properties on Victoria Square. I remember when I was a kid, walking up from the city centre, through this leafy paradise, so different from the grimy back streets of St Pauls I lived in. We would look at the towering Georgian architecture as if we were looking at the landscape of the Martian plain.

And now I was sipping overpriced fresh orange juice from a crystal tumbler, waiting to see if my ex boyfriend would be satisfied with £50,000 as a payoff. Surreal doesn't really cover it.

Emily was quiet. I didn't want to mention 'that' kiss just now, we were both nervous, but it was there, a fucking big elephant in the elegant room.

When my phone buzzed, I picked it up so fast, I nearly threw it across the bar. Grabbing it tighter, I pressed the green button and listened. I didn't dare put it on speaker, in case the Eastern European bar maid had a better understanding of English than she had demonstrated when we ordered our drinks. Emily squashed up close to me, put her hand hand on my thigh to steady herself. It might have steadied her, but it sent shock waves through me, like touching a live battery. I trembled, but didn't flinch.

"Naomi...?" It was Steve. Unlike before, his voice sounded tight, agitated. I knew that was a very bad sign. This guy was as unflappable as an English embassy diplomat. The hairs on the back of my neck went up like quills. Emily sent a worried look my way.

"Yes?" I said, trying to keep my voice level.

It went quiet for a long moment and I thought we might have been cut off.

"They have a message for you" he said "Goodbye Naomi"

I shook my head at Ems as she lifted her eyebrows...goodbye, what the f...

The next thing I heard was a muffled hollow thump and the line went dead.

"What the _fuck_!" Emily shouted, taking the phone from my nerveless fingers and putting it to her own ear.

"Steve...Steve?" she shouted, prompting a hard look from the glass polishing blonde behind the ornate bar "Steve...what..."

Realising he had gone, we stared at each other. Suddenly the tranquil peace of the empty bar wasn't so restful.

"I've got to go there" I said shakily, "They're in trouble Ems..."

Emily gripped my forearms, forcing me to face her.

"No you don't, you soppy cow...if Steve's in trouble, what do you think they'll do to **you**...I'm not losing you Naomi...not now...after..."

She turned her head away, but I knew what she was thinking...after that kiss. I stopped struggling. She was right, I'd just get myself kidnapped or something.

Just then, the silence of the bar was pierced by the unmistakeable sound of sirens...loys of sirens. Two Police cars raced round the square, towards the Downs...followed by ambulances...two ambulances. Then two more police cars. We sat, numb, in the window seats, watching them scream by.

It wasn't until an hour later we knew. Four large brandies had given us some fortitude, but that only lasted until the flat screen TV over the bar started its endless newsreel.

"_This is Sky News. Police in Bristol are hunting two men after the gangland style executions of two males in Clifton, Bristol today. The men have not been identified yet, but one of them is believe to be a local man...our reporter on the scene is Matt Dyer..."_

**_Well_...unexpected? I hope so. It was always my intention to inject some high drama into this story...too much? Not enough? I should be told?**

**Reviews welcome my lovely readers!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Two updates in two days...whatever next?**

**On with the plot then. Thanks for the feedback and reviews, I appreciate it more than you know. So the girls are in a bit of trouble now. I hope you'll stick with me to find out where this ends up. **

**Skins isn't mine...blah blah...typo's are. So there.**

Emily

I think if Naomi's phone hadn't buzzed again, we might have sat there until two swarthy Albanian hit-men came to finish the job on us. But it did...twice eventually.

The first call was from a very agitated JJ. He started rambling to Naomi, but I took the phone off her. Since she now knew that Freddie was definitely dead, she'd just zombied out completely, drinking brandy and staring blankly out of the window. He wouldn't get any sense from her any time soon.

"JJ" I interrupted his disjointed apology. He stopped abruptly.

"JJ, I know this isn't your fault. Naomi knows this isn't your fault, but we need to think clearly now. I take it you have more information on what went on over there than we do?"

Silence on the other end.

"_**JJ**_, nodding doesn't _work_ on the phone...my three year old cousin knows that. Talk to me...but about what we can do, not what's happened already"

He coughed and started to talk slower and more coherently.

"Right...well... yes, OK. I spoke to Bristols murder squad. They're on scene now. Two fatalities, as I'm sure you know. Both killed with a single gunshot to the back of the head. Both shot as they knelt down. In broad daylight, near the fucking zoo...where my _son_ goes with the school when we're in Bristol"

I'd never ever heard JJ swear. This was obviously upsetting him badly too.

"Freddie had been beaten quite badly too. It seems our hit men had him locked up overnight. I'm afraid we are going to assume they were there when he made that call to Naomi. So no simple payback job. Unfortunately Steve was just collateral damage to them. Your friend Naomi was the target. Killing Freddie was inevitable, but now they sniff more money...her money.

I swallowed hard. Worst possible scenario then. They had the £50,000 and Freddies corpse, just for pissing them off. What fucking chance did two scared girls have now?

"What do we do JJ?" I said sharply. If he was right, and he seldom wasn't, we didn't have much time. I don't suppose they knew exactly where we were, but it wouldn't take a lot of working out. I eyed the Slavic looking blonde woman behind the bar suspiciously. Stupid I know, she probably had no more contact with Albanian hit-men than we did, but I wasn't exactly seeing straight then.

"Run" he said unhelpfully.

I opened my mouth to give him a broadside. If that was the best he could do, we might as well write the fuckers a cheque and kill ourselves...

"Run...but run cleverly" he said, stopping me in my tracks. "First, leave the hotel now. Don't go up to your rooms, not even for suitcases or money. You have _some_ cash on you, right?"

"Yeas" I said heavily. Jesus this was going to be hard, I just knew it.

"OK then...just leave now. Go to the nearest taxi rank and take one to Temple Meads. Then walk away from the station...after the cab has left, just in case he gets asked questions by someone later. Get another taxi to the Abbey Wood military base north of the city. When he drops you off, go across the road opposite into an estate. There's a house in Wallscot Road South. Number 56. Go to that house and knock on the door. Its a witness protection property leased by the Met. I'll make sure there is someone there to meet you. Its a bog standard semi. Just do that first...oh, and ditch this phone straight after I hang up. They have the number for sure. I have your own mobile number Emily. That will have to be our contact until you can get a pay as you go later. Do it _now_, get up, walk out and do just that...no deviations, right?"

Suddenly I felt a tiny bit better. JJ was in full professional mode. We were still in extreme danger, but at least we weren't doing the old tethered goat routine.

I said OK and hung up. Grabbing Naomi's arm, I pulled her to her feet, tossed a twenty on the counter and hustled her outside. She was still doing her best 'Walking Dead' impression, so we got a couple of strange looks, but by the time we'd got to Queens Road, she was starting to notice her surroundings a tiny bit.

"W...where we going Ems" she choked "Freddies dead you know..." As if I didn't know. She was obviously still in deep shock.

The glazed look on her face was slightly more animated, but she was still making no sense.

"I know Naoms" I said tightly "And we need to get away from here fast if we don't want to end up in some Paris brothel, working for the Albanian mob. I've seen the sort of things they get up to when they kidnap young vulnerable Western girls...it ain't pretty"

I really wish I hadn't seen '_Taken_' now... I only saw it because I used to wank over Maggie Grace... Oops, did I just admit that?

She started to protest, mumbling something about needing to let Freddies dad know what had happened, but I kept my grip on her elbow until we saw a passing cab. I hailed it and within seconds we were on our way to Temple Meads station. The journey only took five minutes, but I slung the driver another £20. Fuck it, if he did get interrogated by the people hunting us, he'd remember the tip, but also hopefully that we were heading for the trains.

Except of course, we weren't.

After 30 seconds, waiting for the cab to pull away, we walked round the corner to a minicab office and got a taxi to Abbey Wood, telling the driver we were girlfriends of servicemen in there. Fifteen minutes later, we were crossing a busy road opposite the camp gates, turning left to Wallscott Road.

By this time, Naomi was starting to ask questions. Nothing testing, just where are we going, why didn't we check out and what about our luggage. I deflected all of them by saying we needed to get indoors quickly. Within another 5 minutes, I had knocked on the door. A woman answered. You could tell she was a copper straight away. Short dark hair, clipped way of speaking and had a not exactly pleasant way of looking you up and down as you stood there. I didn't like her...and more to the point, something about her told me I couldn't trust her. So I told her nothing, just that Jeremiah Jones, civilian head of organised crime intelligence at the Yard had told us to come.

She was in her early thirties I suppose, dressed in jeans and a grey hoodie. I'm guessing undercover officer of some sort. Trouble was, I knew a lot of them went native after a while. If she was involved in monitoring someone like Jonny White,she might be a bit too close to the action, if you know what I mean. White was strictly small time, compared to the murderous thugs who were after us, but he had enough money to be able to keep a sizeable chunk of the coppers on side. If she was one of them, I wasn't going to hang around to long to find out where her loyalties really lay.

Then Naomi's phone went again. The copper gave us a sharp look, but didn't protest when I answered it.

"Yes" I said, expecting it to be JJ with further instructions.

Instead there was a low chuckle.

"Hello pretty lady" a voice said with a harsh Eastern European accent "I think we need to talk, Naomi"

Well, I wasn't about to start a conversation with Freddies killers, so I said nothing. If he wanted to think I was Naomi...fine.

"I'll make it simple" he said calmly "One million pounds, in cash, tomorrow night. Bring it to..."

"Are you fucking _shitting_ me" I shouted, making the copper throw me a hard look and Naomi to start crying all over again. "You just killed two men in cold blood, even after you _got_ your fucking drug money. No way am I going anywhere near your smelly peasant body. Go fuck yourself...no, better still...go fuck your mother, creep"

Now that was possibly the stupidest thing I could have said to a Mafia hood with an overdeveloped mother complex. But how was I to know?

There was a long silence before her spoke again.

"_Ju jeni të vdekur"_ he said flatly, and the line went dead. I didn't think he was telling me he loved me. I sat there with the phone in my hand whilst the tame copper moaned on about not antagonising whoever was on the phone. Too late, I thought, I think I've just signed my own death warrant, along with my girlfriend...and yes, I thought about Naomi's status before I said that. Whatever happened, I knew I couldn't leave her to face this alone, and more than that, I didn't _want_ to. Whatever our fates, they were tied together now.

Over the next hour, we did what we could to get ready for a full scale bail out. I trashed Naomi's phone in a bucket of water, smashing it with a hammer afterwards, just to be sure. The copper, who's name was Liz apparently (and if my gaydar wasn't totally off line, was as queer as the proverbial glazed panel) helped us by popping out to the nearest Tesco with a clothes department. She came back after about 20 minutes with standard jeans, cheap grey trainers, dark hoodies and plain sweat shirts in both our sizes. Naomi was starting to come out of her fugue, and I spent another 10 minutes bringing her up to date on what JJ had told us to do. Neither of us mentioned Freddie again, and I thought it better not to tell her what was likely to happen to us if we fell into their hands now. Having insulted the thugs mother, I had no doubt a career in a Paris knocking shop sucking off businessmen was now distant prospect. More like gang rape and a bullet to match Freddies. But she didn't need to know that yet.

An hour an a half after we got there, JJ called. Not on my phone, on Liz's. She disappeared into the kitchen to take the call, but I followed her, listening at the door. Of course, only getting one side of the conversation wasn't ideal, but I gathered that our 'minder' was less than impressed by being asked to babysit two women the Albanian Mafia wanted dead.

"Yes sir" she said sullenly "But for fucks sake...two men are already dead...I don't...yes sir, I understand...no sir, I am not refusing...its just I have to live in this city after these two...no, of course, I understand that...but when...its not as if they're inconspicuous, is it...?"

JJ was obviously having a bit of a problem convincing her to stick her neck out for us. I would have thought, as an undercover policewoman, she would have been used to risk taking. It sounded like JJ had the same idea, because she stopped protesting after a long silence, which presumably meant JJ was tearing her a new one. She hung up and scowled at me when she turned and saw me watching her.

"Someone else is coming to move you, be ready in 10 minutes" she said curtly.

"Awww... really?" I said sarcastically "and there we were getting on so well...I was just about to see if you wanted a quickie before we go...you _are_ gay babe, aren't you?"

It was worth the Medusa stare I had to put up with while we waited for our ride, to see the shock in her eyes at that little offer. Like there was any doubt she was a sister. I'd seen her ogling Naomi's arse when she thought I wasn't looking...

Ten minutes on the dot later there was a muffled knock on the door. Liz opened it and I heard the relief in her voice when she saw who it was. They had a short, whispered conversation at the door before a guy followed her into the lounge. He was about 40, short and swarthy, with that horrible 3 day growth middle aged men have to make them look cool and down with the kids. Just looks like a fucking bristly mess to me, and God only knows what it does to the thighs of their wives...that's if any of the fuckers know what cunnilingus is...

Anyway, he was pleasant enough, in that irritating police way, where you know everything you say to them is being analysed and disbelieved on general principle. I made sure to be as cautious with my disclosures to him as I had been to his colleague. Naomi was still only answering questions in monosyllables, so I had to do most of the talking. Liz went upstairs to use the loo, while he fussed about, making sure we had everything ready. It wasn't hard, apart from the new clothes we were wearing (Don't go to Tesco if you're looking for designer fabrics) and our purses, that was it.

She was a long time upstairs, so I excused myself, telling this guy Darren I needed the loo too. When I got to the top of the stairs, I could see the toilet door was open. I could just hear a whispered conversation going on in the empty bedroom, so I crept closer to the door.

"Yes...I _know_...but Jonny, we only have, like, minutes, that dickhead Darren is too by the book to buy any sidetracking from me. He'll want us to get straight to the shop...no stop offs, unless you want to do a hard stop somewhere...snatch them then?"

I may not know much police slang, but I knew immediately this bitch was on the line to fucking Jonny White...probably been on his payroll for ages. And she was preparing to hand us over to him. I clenched my fists so hard I left nail marks in my palms. Hard stop is what armed police do when they stop a criminal vehicle with extreme prejudice. I wasn't about to let me and Naoms get offered up to White so he could get a fucking reward from our murderous friends. I crept downstairs, and kept my face calm as I asked Darren to go up to speak to Liz... I told him she needed a quiet word. He looked at me a bit sideways, but went up anyway.

I grabbed Naomi's hand tightly and stared into her vacant eyes. Jesus, Freddies death had really hit her hard, but I needed her to trust me on this, otherwise we would be following him to the mortuary slab in double quick time.

"Naoms" I hissed "We need to go...like right fucking _NOW_!"

She wrinkled her brow in puzzlement

"But they're coming to take us somewhere safe" she said hoarsely "The police..."

"The police aren't to be trusted...you were right babe. Come on...right now, otherwise..." I left the alternative for her to think about and tugged her to her feet.

We slipped out of the back door, closing it silently behind us. Without any knowledge of the area, I knew we had to make as much distance between us and the 'safe' house as we could. If we were going to be up against the bent coppers as well as White and the Albanians, we would be very lucky to get away. Luckily, there was a steep drop behind the back fence. It looked like an overgrown railway line, long since unused, but perfect for us. I dropped down the steep bank first and helped Naomi down after me.

Which way, I thought, right or left? Then cursed myself. Didn't really matter, as long as there _was_ an alternative. They couldn't follow us in both directions, could they?

I settled on left, which turned out to be a very fucking wise choice. The cutting led along a tight curve, northwards away from the city. Fuck knows where it ended up, but I knew we had to get out of Bristol. The Albanians might have had a few guys looking for us, but White had dozens, maybe hundreds...and who knew how many salaried coppers too. We staggered and stumbled along the grassy cutting, looking behind us regularly for any sign of pursuit. But none came.

Just as well, because within a mile, Naomi was clutching at my sleeve, complaining about a stitch. I wasn't the most understanding of listeners.

"Fuck sake Naomi" I hissed "There are people back there who want to gang rape and murder us...a fucking stitch is the last of your worries!"

She started crying hard then, and I mentally kicked myself for momentarily turning into my sister.

"Sorry..._sorry_ babes" I said, hugging her tight to me "I _know_ this is hard for you...but we really do need to put some distance between us and them. It really is dangerous to be in somewhere like this railway line thingy...its restricted, and we need to get onto a normal road, preferably with a bus service. If we can get to a place out of the city, we can sort ourselves out and decide what to do next. JJ will know in minutes that we've been sold out, but he's probably sensible enough not to phone yet, just in case we're hiding within earshot of those bastards"

I don't know where that particular piece of special forces field-craft came from, but it turned out I was right.

Fifteen minutes after we dropped into the cut, the track levelled out at normal road level. We were by a set of old crossing gates, peeling and neglected, but praise be, there was also a bus shelter across the road. I had no idea where the route led, but any place was better than here. We crossed over and sat in its darkness, just being grateful it was one of those old wooden ones with proper sides. A modern one, all glazed and open plan would have been like putting a sign over our heads 'Fugitives inside'.

Even better, once we'd checked our purses, we had over £100 in cash between us. OK, £85 of it was Naomi's, but who's counting?

I relied so much on credit and debit cards, mobile cash apps and the like, I was quite surprised I even had £15 on me. But the important thing was we didn't need to resort to cards to get away. Cards get tracked, and I knew at least one copper in Bristol didn't have our interests at heart.

We had to wait over 15 minutes, keeping a watch out both sides of the shelter, before a single decker turned up. It said **THORNBURY** on the destination plate, so I bought two £5 tickets to wherever that was...

Nearly an hour later, after a long and circuitous journey round all the no doubt very attractive West country villages possible, we pulled up at a small bus station in the market town. I had a moments doubt, looking round at the mini-mart and post office opposite. We needed a place to crash, and it crossed my mind that this place was small enough to have nothing at all like that on offer.

But fate smiled on us again. Walking into the centre of Thornbury, we found it had quite a few shops, restaurants and pubs. Naomi was starting to function again after a little sleep on the bus, so we asked in the first pub we came to (The Wheatsheaf) if there were any b and b's locally.

"Yes, of course" the friendly guy behind the counter said "Two or three within walking distance...but why don't you stay here? We've just started to let out two rooms on the top floor...you'll be welcome to be our first guests"

I could have kissed him, and probably would have if his wife hadn't been eyeing us suspiciously. Not suspiciously in terms of 'I'd better go and phone Jonny White about these two' but just as a wife does when her husband drools over two pretty potential house guests, especially guests who look like they needed a bath...

But we got past the guard dog, and within minutes the door was closing behind us in a small but clean attic bedroom with a crisply clean double bed the size of a small English county right in the middle. It cost us £60 of our £90 remaining, but it was _so_ worth it.

"Thank you" Naomi said dully, standing in the middle of the carpet and rubbing her eyes "If it hadn't been for you...I would have...they would have..." she started to cry again and I hugged her in that special Fitch way my dad used to banish all the outside world when me or Katie were in trouble. It still worked...

XXX

Freshly showered and with our rinsed underwear drying on the radiator under the window, we relaxed for the first time in hours. I felt about 100 at least. My legs and arms ached and every inch of me seemed to bear a memory of some physical and mental trial. I knew Naomi would be feeling equally if not more exhausted, but I needed to do something. I had no idea what tomorrow would bring...death, torture? But I did know that I needed to face it with Naomi...and she needed something from me too. Something she probably hadn't thought about for a while.

We sat in bed, the quilt drawn up to our chins, resting our damp hair on the overstuffed pillows.

"Naoms" I said as her eyes started to droop

"Yeah babe" she sighed, linking her fingers with mine.

"Whatever tomorrow brings...this is us now, right? You and me...together. No more fights, no more secrets...just Naomi and Emily...K?"

She turned her red rimmed eyes towards me, her pupils darkly expanded.

"Yeah" she said huskily "Definitely"

"Well then..." I smirked "This could be the last opportunity then...theoretically"

"Last opportunity for what?" she grinned back, knowing exactly what I meant.

I pulled her on top of me, relishing the sensation of her lush naked body pressing against me. I snaked a hand between us and found her already wet.

"This..." I said, dragging an inquisitive finger around her clit

"_Oh_" she said and looked me in the eyes, grinding her hips against my insistent pressure.

"Let's hope not" she groaned as I dipped inside her "I fucking missed this Fitch"

"Me too babes...me too" I groaned as her hand found me instinctively underneath the quilt. I was as wet as her and twice as ready.

I think you can safely say we christened the new room in the Wheatsheaf quite comprehensively over the next half hour, before sleep claimed us...

**And there we leave our girls, safe for the moment, but how long for?**

**Hands up those who want the to end up in the hands of the Albanian Mob?**

**Thought not... but they're not free and clear yet.**

**Reviews make me type faster...just saying...**

**By the way _Ju jeni të vdeku _means "You're dead" in Albanian...but you knew that, didn't you? I fucking love Google Answers!**


	11. Chapter 11

**More Lottery Fever? Coming right up. A bit of a 'road' section this, but with a twist. You decide!**

**Thanks for the support. It keeps my tablet blinking at me! **

**Skins, no...typo's yes...you know the drill.**

Naomi

I woke up the following morning with the sun casting a yellow shard across my eyes. Squinting, I opened one carefully. Part of me ached to be unconscious again, because I remembered instantly that Freddie was dead. The other part of me was celebrating the fact that Emily Fitch had proved beyond doubt, last night, that life very much goes on. The pleasant ache between my legs was testament to that. I wanted to be suitably sad about the exit from this life of my ex, but Emily had a way of making even the darkest moments hopeful. She was back in my life, and even better, in my bed. Although that wasn't the case at that moment. I turned away from the brilliance of the early morning sun and saw that she was already up and dressed.

I groaned my disappointment at her absence and she turned and smiled sweetly at me as she tied her trainers.

"Morning sleepyhead" she said softly, her hair dropping attractively over her eyes as she straightened up.

"Too early...back to bed Fitch...sex" I mumbled, which produced a dirty chuckle from her throat.

"Sex mad...what am I gonna do with you?" she said huskily

"Fuck me senseless again?" I said hopefully.

"Later babe...we have a bit of business to sort out first"

I groaned again in mock petulance, but sat up in bed, hugging my knees under the crisp cotton sheet. Material which still held the faint odour of an excited Emily. I struggled, but stopped myself from sniffing it...just.

"We need to get out of Dodge, Naoms" she said, suddenly serious "I don't think either the Albo's or Whites crew will have any informers in a small South Gloucester market town, but we still can't trust the local police. So I'm gonna go out and phone JJ, before ditching this phone for good. We need cash, transport and a change of appearance. We stand out a bit...this part of the world doesn't have many lesbian couples on the run around. We need to make it harder for them...OK?"

I nodded, the events of yesterday doing a quick flashback through my sleepy head. Hunted by gangsters AND the local bent cops. Not a happy situation.

Emily pulled her hoodie up and faced me again.

"Do you trust me?" she said simply

"With my life...completely" I said immediately. I did, and I had absolutely no hesitation in telling her that. Without her, yesterday would have been the last day of my life...unless the Albo's wanted to systematically gang fuck me unconscious first, so I owed the very air in my lungs to her at the moment.

"I need your debit card, your purse and your PIN number" she said

"W...what?" I said dumbly "You know you can have any money you want from me hun...hang on, I'll come with you...I have a special withdrawal arrangement with Coutts...normal limits don't apply to me at cashpoints...I'll..."

"No babe" she stopped me getting out of bed with an outstretched palm "Right now, those fuckers out there are looking for you primarily...an ash blonde girl with piercing blue eyes. You're too fucking memorable Naoms..."

I blinked at that.

"B...but..."

She shook her head seriously "No...think about it...I go to get us what we need. You order breakfast, just like normal people do in hotels. By the time the eggs are cooked, I'll be back...K?"

I nodded uncertainly. What she said made sense, but I hated the idea of her going out alone. Eventually, as she watched me over-think everything, as usual...I nodded.

Two minutes later, she slipped out of the room with my handbag and the PIN number written on the back of her hand

It was only just after 8.30, so I waited for 15 minutes before ordering a full English for both of us from the menu on the dressing table. At £12 a pop, I hoped it would live up to its billing. I had a feeling we would need all the energy we could get.

After I ordered, I had a quick shower in the bathroom just outside our door. I could see from the half frosted window that things were coming to life in Thornbury. A milk float hummed by, its electric motor a prosaic reminder that for most people, this was just the start of another ordinary day.

But not for me and Ems. We were fugitives. From murderous gangsters and their accomplices in the police. How the fuck were we supposed to get out of Thornbury unobserved, let alone this part of England. If those killers found Freddie in Rio, what chance did we have in the West Country?

My sombre thoughts were interrupted a few minutes later when the landlords wife knocked on the door with two trays. My mum always said that my appetite was stronger than any other primal urge in my body (but then, until recently, she hadn't met Emily Fitch) and I DO love my breakfasts...and this was a 'proper' English fry up.

Local bacon, four slices, two thick sausages, two eggs, fried bread, baked beans and huge beef mushrooms covered each plate. Add to that four slices of wholemeal loaf and a monster pot of coffee, and I was shaken out of my melancholy by the sight of all that cholesterol. Heart attack on a plate, I could hear my skinny friends back in London say in my head, but fuck it...if I was getting killed today, two things had to happen. One, that monster breakfast had to be eaten...and two, Emily Fitch needed to make good on that promise of 'later'...

The woman smiled at the happiness on my face.

"You two looked as though you needed a bust up meal" she said, pleasantly enough "My old man usually skimps on the breakfasts, so I put a bit of extra on"

She looked across at the seriously rumpled bed...I was conscious that the sex session of last night might have left some small piece of olfactory evidence...I had no idea what the reaction would be to THAT little gem of alternative sexuality in this part of rural Gloucester. But I needn't have worried. She might have looked at us a bit sideways last night when her husband drooled pervily over us, but by the twinkle in her eye and the amused lift of one eyebrow as she left, I had the feeling she might have a couple of her own secrets to keep.

I had just dipped my hot fried bread into a bright yellow yolk when Emily appeared in the doorway. Strangely, she had on a brand new leather biker jacket, and was carrying a couple of bulging plastic shopping bags. I opened my mouth to start asking questions, but she shook her head, eyes fixed on her own breakfast on the small table.

"Oh my fucking _God_!" she said reverently "That breakfast looks..." she cut off a piece of bacon and chewed it deliriously "Orgasmic" she smiled happily.

I sniggered at her choice of words "Orgasmic babe?" I smirked "You mean you'd rather eat that than this..." I opened my dressing gown theatrically. Her eyes bulged as she chewed on bread and egg.

"Fuck Naoms" she breathed "Give a girl a break...thats just...unfair"

I closed my dressing gown, chuckling as she carried on wolfing down her huge breakfast. Her eyes kept flicking to the parting at the top...I had left enough of my tits showing to make her wriggle uncomfortably throughout. One nil, I think.

After we'd polished off the whole meal, we sat back, happily bloated. To be honest, I think I might have refused if she'd insisted on making me the dessert course. Even Emily Fitch's clever tongue would have had trouble making me get up at that moment. Stuffed is the word, I think...

We eventually stirred, after drinking the pot of coffee. I started to dress, giving her a definite view of my bare bum as I hunted for the underwear we had rinsed last night.

"Hold on" she said briskly, opening one shop carrier bag. "Clean knickers...hooray!"

She chuckled as I tugged a pair of striped girl shorts from her hand.

"Bit butch..."I grinned "But..."

She elbowed me just as I put one leg into the shorts, which made me hop around the room like a demented stork. I shot her a patented Campbell eye roll, which had precisely zero effect. Bitch

Then she opened the other two bags. Another black motorbike jacket, some gloves, toiletries, bars of chocolate, fruit, all came spilling out.

"Fuck me Ems" I said...shopping spree?"

She shook her head

"All part of the plan. Come on...lets go. I think we've stayed long enough...lots of miles to cover today"

And she wouldn't answer any more questions, despite me firing loads at her as we clumped down the ancient wood stairs to the lobby.

After bidding our goodbyes (getting a long longing look from the landlord at our disappearing arses)_, we walked round the building to the hedge bordered car park behind. Emily still hadn't told me anything and I was tugging at her sleeve, asking if she'd got us a second hand banger, when she stopped dead in front of me, making me stumble into her.

"Fucking hell babe...what the..."

I stopped talking when I saw where her eyes were looking.

"No _way_" I gasped..."I can't...you won't be able to..."

"You can, and I have, lots of times" she smirked. Got my first moped at 17, then a scooter, passed my big bike test when I was 21. Naomi...meet Blossom"

'Blossom' turned out to be a Honda Silver Wing motorbike. 500cc, built in the 80's and fully restored by the mechanic in the local bike dealers in town, as Emily proudly reported to me. Huge (to my eyes anyway) complete with panniers for our few possessions, a back seat with a proper back rest and gleaming in resprayed maroon.

I didn't remember if I had even been on the back of a motorbike before in my life. Now my pocket Venus girlfriend was holding out one of those flip up helmets like the Police use, only in glossy black. Slowly I started to see her genius at work. Dressed in identical black leather jackets and jeans, and with the darkened helmet screens over our faces, we could be any two bikers travelling up the motorway.

Like I said...fucking genius...

I didn't quite have those sentiments in mind seventy miles or so further away from Bristol. Although the seat was soft and comfy, with the backrest taking the strain of her frequent bursts of hard acceleration (I'm not entirely convinced they were all absolutely necessary...someone was getting excited about having 250 kilos of throbbing metal between their legs...hmmm) I still wasn't used to the noise, the vibration (stop it) and the tedium of being a pillion passenger. Even Emily's clever decision to buy a couple of those little microphone speaker things which go inside the helmets to let you talk to each on the journey didn't make it wonderful. At least she could fill me in on the details as we left Avon and entered the Midlands. The bike ate up mileage better than any car, so we were soon approaching Birmingham.

Apparently, after talking to JJ briefly (she was right about him holding off calling until he knew we were clear of the safe house) she'd discovered the Met was about ten minutes behind Bristol's finest...Our not to be trusted Liz was now in a cell in Lambeth, talking non stop to counter intelligence officers. Both her and Jonny White had overstepped their boundaries. She was now looking at dismissal and a charge of corruption. White was currently in custody...although his expensive brief was oiling his way out on bail...and his empire was being systematically raided by everyone from drugs squad to Border Force. By colluding in the daylight murder of two civilians at the same time as the Chief Constables daughter was taking her little girl to the zoo, he'd ensured his expensive layer of police protection was absent. No one wanted to put their head above the parapet.

Of course, that didn't include the Albanians.

Twisted honour and all that. The only good point was that this particular family was small and localised. Run by a grandfather from the original village near Tirana, it consisted of two sons and four cousins in the UK. The two sons were considered to be the most dangerous and had probably carried out the hit on Freddie and Steve. They were missing from the family home in Bristol, but the police (at least the ones who could be trusted) were doing a 24/7 guard outside their houses.

However, JJ still felt we needed to be ultra careful. Although it was Emily's idea to buy the bike, he had suggested our destination. We were going to the Lake District...

Emily made me laugh out loud as she explained how she had persuaded a dozy mechanic from the local bike dealers to sell her the Honda. She'd withdrawn £6000 in cash, 3 thousand at a time from different cash machines in Thornbury...its amazing what being a multi millionaire can do about arbitrary daily cash withdrawal amounts...and got him to sell her the classic bike, ready for the road. Within 5 minutes, she'd insured it on her phone, paid for two helmets (mine was a bit snug, but I wasn't gonna tell her that...big head and all) jackets and gloves. A quick visit to Aldi's and she was at the hotel eating breakfast.

Apparently, the mechanic was left with a promise of another. 'extra' visit from Emily tonight, accompanied by her slutty twin sister...who 'loved mechanics almost as much as she did'. Fucking boys and twin things huh? He had more chance of getting his dick into a carburettor than Emily's fanny...mind you, if Katie had been around in reality, he might have got a free re bore...

I chuckled over that. But Emily wasn't keen on stopping. Even though we were soon over 150 miles from Bristol. Each time a service station was signposted, she kept putting it off.

"Next one babe...just a few more miles"

"That one looks a bit crowded, next one's only 15 miles..."

I decided that playing dirty was my only option.

Although there were grab bars alongside my seat, as well as the backrest, I eventually felt safe enough to just lightly rest my hands against Emilys waist for balance on bends. After the third aborted stop though, I gradually slid one hand over her thigh until it was resting above her crotch. I felt her tense as my hand cupped her fanny lightly, over her tight jeans.

"Naoms, babe...thats very... Uh...distracting" she hissed over the intercom.

"Really?" I said innocently "Sorry gorgeous...slipped"

My mouth might have been making sorry sounds, but then I started running my nail up and down the seam of denim between her legs.

She hissed again and her legs snapped shut, which did two things. The bike wobbled a bit, and the pressure forced my finger against her harder. Her legs sprung apart as she realised she was helping my stroking, not stopping it. It didn't stop me at all.

For five more miles, I stroked and teased, she muttered and protested quietly. I decided to up the ante.

"These helmet mic's are brilliant Ems, aren't they?" I said softly, gripping her warmth deliberately with my whole hand now, "For instance...I can tell you how much I want to unbutton your jeans and slide my fingers round that hard little clit...I bet its really hard and excited...and. I bet it's looking forward to me being inside you...remember...last night...when you wanted me to sit on your face, babe?... My tongue was so far inside you that..."

"Naoms...please...too...dangerous...fuck...stop...uh...Jesus _Christ_.." she said plaintively..

"Oh look" I said, peering over her shoulder at the motorway sign.

"Services one mile" I grinned innocently.

"OK...fuck it...you win" she moaned, releasing the bike handlebars with her left hand and covering my insistent fingers "You fucking wait Campbell...just wait..."

I laughed inside my helmet but kept my hand lightly over her...just in case she changed her mind.

We pulled in to the next services, only slightly swerving as I pressed against Emilys sex gratefully, before she maneuvered round the back of the anonymous concrete block of the main building. She pulled up in the service area at the rear of the restaurant. Turning off the throaty burble of the big V twin engine, she jumped off more athletically than I managed, even if I had teased her centre into a burning bundle of nerves for ten miles.

I tried teasing some more.."So...something to eat first..then?"

She grabbed me by the front of my jacket as I slipped the helmet off my head and growled.

"Don't think you're in charge any more Campbell...no more fucking teasing"

I liked this new, aggressive Emily...

She pulled me into an alcove in the brickwork, out of sight of anyone who might come round the corner. Our helmets hit the soft earth with a dull thump as she leaned forward and kissed me hard. It was all twisting tongues and harsh breathing after that. By the time my hand had squeezed a leather clad breast and then groped for her fly buttons, she had beaten me to it. Her jeans were open and her hand was forcing mine down the front of her knickers.

The liquid sound of my fingers inside her was added to her moans now. Jesus, she was dripping. Her knees shook and her fingernails dug into my neck as she panted in my ear. Within 30 seconds, I knew she was moments away from an orgasm. I bit her earlobe, knowing that was one of her most erogenous spots. The loud moan she let out reassured me that was still true.

I straightened my fingers, thrusting upwards and used my thumb to circle her clit.

"Oh Jesus Naoms...yeah, right...there" she groaned as I hurried her along the last exquisite seconds...and then...and then...I saw her.

In the small window a few feet behind Emily's head. We'd been so distracted, so intent on not being discovered from the side, neither of us had checked behind.

There was a girl..no more than that...16 or 17 I suppose, dark haired, watching us intently. It looked to my overheated brain as if she was washing up. Of course, I thought...kitchen, restaurant, fucking obvious really... She was watching us with wide brown eyes, biting her lip. I could only see her from the waist up. If this was the washing up area, she probably had a sink in front of her, underneath the window. I realised she could probably only see us from the waist up too. Not that that made any difference. Even a Trappist Monk would know instantly that I was out here, finger fucking my girlfriend.

I stopped stroking and Emily moaned in protest.

"Fuck Naoms...nearly there...don't fucking stop _now_...gonna..."

She grabbed the back of my hand and tried clumsily to restore my rhythmic thrusting.

"Someones watching" I hissed

"Who?" she panted, clearly not as bothered about it as me.

"Some kid...girl...in the kitchen...just looking at us out of the window" I said thickly...

"Fuck...who _cares_ Naomi" Emily croaked "Let her fucking watch" She chuckled filthily, making her cunt squeeze down on my still inserted fingers. "I would have paid money to watch two pretty girls go at it at her age..if she was turned off, don't you think she would have fucked off by now?"

I couldn't fault her logic, but it was still weird, fingering Emily while a total stranger watched us hungrily.

Because now I could see she was doing exactly that. Not looking...watching.

She hadn't moved or changed position since I'd spotted her. Emily was right, she WAS enjoying it...

I felt my fingers, as if on auto pilot, start to flex and thrust again.

Emily rocked her hips towards me and her thighs trembled as she got close.

"Still ...watching?" she hissed as I started thumbing her clit.

"Oh yeah" I breathed, locking eyes with the unknown teenager inside "She's not fucking washing up any more either..."

Emily started to giggle, then choked it off as I thrust another finger up her. She bit into the soft flesh of my neck as her cunt contracted over and over on my pumping fingers.

"Coming..." she said unnecessarily "Coming Naoms...oh sweet Jesus, thats...FUCK..."

I slowly rode her down through the aftershocks, gently stroking around her clit, avoiding direct contact. I knew she got very sensitive just after she'd come...

I looked up then. Our little voyeur had gone. Just the empty steamy window faced me.

Call me a cynic, but I had a feeling the employees toilet might be engaged right now.

Once we'd made ourselves decent, we went into the service area. We avoided the restaurant. Too much chance of bumping into Employee of the Month as Ems nominated her...

Fifteen minutes later, we were back on the M6...a hundred and fifty more miles and we would be seeing the unmistakeable ridge of Blencathra along the A66. Ems and I had both been up here as kids. Her with her twin and parents, me with my soppy hippy mum, before she decided to turn our house into an annexe for the Salvation Army

We made one last stop in a little market town I couldn't name now if I tried. We both went into the one and only hairdresser in town. In an hour, my long blonde hair was cut into the sort of lopsided bob I used to have it like in 6th form college..but dyed deep chestnut brown. Emily went for the 'Audrey Hepburn' as my mother would have said...but dyed vivid red, like cherry...she looked different, but hot. But then she always does.

Hide in plain sight, JJ had said. Well we certainly looked totally different...

Next stop a camping shop, where we bought a three man simply erected tent, some ground foam sleeping bases and a luxury double sleeping bag. Strapped to the back of my pillion seat it didn't take up a huge amount of room, and then we were off.

Next stop, Keswick and a small campsite overlooking Derwentwater.

XXX

The next two weeks were surprisingly, the best I could ever remember. There wasn't any way I could stop feeling sad about Freddies death, and poor Steve, who was after all, only doing his job. But being alone with Emily...all the trimmings of my big win out of sight, I started to feel normal again for the first time in over a year.

We bought a new pay as you go phone in a Tesco's outside Kendal and put £100 credit on it, paying cash. In fact, everything we bought was for cash. JJ and Emily's sister Katie were the only two people on the planet to have the cell phone number. Even my mum didn't. I used phone boxes when I contacted her. Apart from the tent, which although small, was perfect for us two, we bought a small cooking stove and a wind up lamp. Keswick was full of tourists, but we had no trouble booking ourselves, complete with 'Blossom' into a pretty campsite overlooking the lake. There were a scattering of tents when we arrived. Mostly young families and dedicated hikers and climbers. Just the sort of eclectic mix that made us just another couple on holiday.

Except of course, we were on the run from murderous Albanian killers. Nothing really...

But with the daily updates from JJ, we kept in touch with the hunt for the brutal brothers. He told us that one of the cousins had been arrested on a cross channel ferry, making for Paris, apparently. I think they believed we would make a dash for the continent, and it suited me down to the ground that they carried on thinking that.

Instead, of course, we were snuggled up nightly in our little anonymous tent in a field somewhere in Cumbria. JJ assured us the hunt for the gang was much more intensive than it appeared. Special Branch and Border Force were also involved. We all hoped that with the heat on them this much, two stupid girls wouldn't be their priority, but until we knew that for sure, he wanted us out of sight.

Jonny White wouldn't be a problem for now anyway. Neither of us planned any trips to Bristol soon, and with the CID, Customs and Robbery Squad currently dismantling his organisation unit by unit, I think he might be regretting helping the Albo's.

So life was pretty sweet, if basic. I didn't miss the jewellery, designer clothes and 5 star restaurants at all. We bought our food at the local supermarket, when we weren't frequenting the excellent Red Fort Indian restaurant in town. I got used to supermarket vodka and orange juice again. Ems was my rock, my saviour. She never ceased to surprise me with her humour, resourcefulness and plain, simple loveliness.

I fell in love with her more every day.

Most days started the same. Up pretty early, because even with a sexy redhead next to you, the early morning trip to the loo was obligatory. Usually, my little dormouse was still curled up on her side when I got back. I brewed up the Italian stove coffee maker (those five sided alloy pots with a filter in the middle you always see steaming in Italian kitchens) so that her nose would twitch after five minutes. I'd pour two mugs and make sure hers had the required 3 sugars and place it next to her tousled head.

After a couple of seconds, her nose would twitch again. By then I would be cross legged in just my knickers and a tee waiting for those beautiful eyes to open.

"Morning" I would say brightly. Her eyes would take in me and the steaming mug. Result...a big sleepy smile and a husky good morning.

Two sips of Brazilian and she would be properly awake.

"Too many clothes you...bed...more sex" were the next words out of her mouth. Words I could happily hear every morning for the rest of my life...

Occasionally the coffee went cold.

Days were spent wandering the hills. We bought a useable Nikon digital camera in a secondhand shop in Cockermouth on the first Saturday. After that, all our wanders and discoveries were recorded. Me and Ems on top of Castle Crag. Ems on a bike, just about to hurtle down a steep slope near Lords Seat. Me leaning against a massive tree in the Grisedale Forest...me and Ems raising a pint of local ale at the Jennings Brewery tour. We even had a picture taken with one of the landed gentry at some supposedly haunted castle near Ravensglass. We ended up having to buy another memory stick, there were so many images. I think we both just wanted to make up for lost time. All those months we had been apart and miserable, in our own wretched way.

And we talked...oh boy did we talk...

Its strange how, having been together a whole year before the Freddie incident in London, we seemed to have missed out the getting to know you properly talks. We shagged virtually non stop then (and that much hasn't changed) but it was nice to fill in all the details of her life before she met me.

Take yesterday. We spent the day up on Catbells. Nothing too strenuous, just a small hill overlooking Derwentwater.

The day was hot and still, with a blue haze obscuring the western peaks away towards the coast. We could have been ten thousand miles away from London, not a few hundred. Surprisingly, there were very few other people up there, so we found a secluded spot, between some tall standing rocks and spread out our little picnic lunch.

Some tasty tuna filled rolls and a couple of blackcurrant slices, fresh from the bakers in Keswick this morning, soon satisfied our hunger. We sat with our feet dangling into space, drinking chilled orange juice from a thermos and watching the small coloured dots below which were actually people climbing up towards the peak. Emily turned to me and slipped her small hand into mine.

"Its hard to believe we're here...like this" she sighed, resting her head on my shoulder contentedly. Emily always was more soppy after a full stomach, I thought amiably.

"Yeah" I said "Shame I had to spoil it in the first place...we lost months of doing things like this together because of my stupidity"

She lifted her head

"That's the last time I ever want to hear you apologise babe" she said firmly "What's done is done. We've both done silly things in the past. Lets just concentrate on what's going to happen in the future huh?"

I nodded, smiling at her sweet face.

"Deal..." I answered "Now Fitch...you said something this morning about paying me back for that little bit of exhibitionism in the service station?"

She giggled and nudged me with her elbow.

"I thought you'd forgotten about that...the past few nights escape your attention? I thought my oral skills had more than settled that debt"

I laughed at her mock serious expression.

"Ems babe, don't think a few nights between my legs adds up to payback...I feel the need for some al fresco dessert..are you saying no?"

As fucking if...Emily Fitch rarely said no to sex, of any flavour, and goading her was a guaranteed win.

Her face suddenly got serious.

"Are you wearing knickers?" she whispered.

I wasn't, and it had taken all my willpower not to squirm on the way up. A short denim skirt and no underwear make for very careful scrambling...

Instead of answering, I took her hand and slid it up the inside of my thigh. The gasp she let out was worth every step of the breezy ascent.

"_Fuck_" she breathed reverently "You really ARE a naughty girl, aren't you?"

Her hand found me immediately, stroking me until the moisture inside coated her fingers. Her mouth went to my neck, knowing it was my prime turn on spot and started to bite gently. I took one last look round for voyeurs before surrendering. I might have challenged her to outside sex, but I didn't actually want to be observed by a hairy ginger person with questionable hiking gear...

But we were alone. And so another first went into my sexual memory bank. Fingered to a very satisfactory orgasm several hundred feet up a Cumbrian hill in broad daylight. It might have disturbed a few nesting birds, but my choked cries soon got Emily fidgety too. I had to return the favour straight afterwards...not a hardship.

So, by the end of the second week, with no sign of JJ and his friends catching the murderous Albo's (although another cousin had been intercepted by Interpol in Athens and was currently in the less than gentle hands of the Greek special anti gang police) we had some decisions to make. Blissful as this two weeks had been, and with JJ's help, funds were not an issue, we couldn't go on and on posing as holiday makers. Where next?

XXX

Emily

It had to end, didn't it? This peaceful, idyllic holiday from the nasty, sordid world out there. Two weeks of waking up with the only woman I ever wanted to sleep with. Two weeks of sex, laughter, watching the sunset, talking, cuddling and soft whispers in the night...oh and did I mention sex?

I'd forgotten how Naomi Campbell could seep into my bones. That shy half look away when she's embarrassed. The heat in her eyes when I undress in front of her (OK, I sort of play on that one a bit) The way she laughs, the way she cries...the way every morning when I open my eyes, she's there...holding out coffee and promising so much more.

It is possible, apparently, to fall even more in love with someone who you're already soppily, crazily in love with.

So this morning, our last here, when we're just about to pack up and move on...apparently to Wales, to a campsite even more remote than this one, I answered my phone still laughing as Naomi hopped about comically, having just dropped her helmet on her toe, trying to carry too much, as always.

I was expecting it to be JJ, so when the caller display said Katie, I thumbed the answer button quickly. She understood not to call at all unless it was an emergency, so I knew it couldn't be good news. How bad was soon evident.

"Katie?" I said nervously, flapping my hand at Naomi to get her attention as she cursed her clumsiness and scowled reproachfully at the helmet rolling about at her feet.

"Ahhh, pretty lady" the voice on the other end said. I froze. Still mistaking me for Naomi, definitely not Katie then...but I had heard that voice before. In another life, the one before campsite sex, Cumbrian sunsets and blackcurrant slices. The life where Freddie and Steve were bleeding corpses in a Bristol lay-by. How the fuck...?

"_Two_ million pounds, in used notes. Bring to Highbury Fields, London. 8 pm tomorrow night. Bandstand in middle of park. Come alone, otherwise your girlfriend's sister gets more of this..."

The phone went silent for a second. I could hear muffled voices, then...

"Oh God no...not again, please...I can't...it hurts..._please_"

Then a deep moan as someone did whatever was terrifying my sister. My blood literally ran cold.

" Katie...?..._KATIE_!"

I screamed then. A deep, wounded scream that seemed to come from my soul, not my lungs. Naomi dropped what she was carrying and ran towards me. I stood there with the now silent phone in my hand.

"They've...they've got Katie..." I moaned helplessly "My sister...and they're...hurting her"

The next few seconds were a blur of my own tears and hopeless sobbing. Naomi tried to get me to tell her what they'd said, but it was a while before I could say anything clearly.

When she finally realised what had happened, she went as ash white as her hair had been until recently. I heard her frantically shouting at JJ on the phone, before everything started to spin round me. I distantly heard her shouting at me to sit down, but it got fainter, until all I could hear was a loud buzzing. Then nothing but welcome blackness...

**And thats this episodes cliffhanger people. The next chapter will be dark and brutal, I won't varnish it. It _won't_ be nice. But I can promise twists turns and hope. What do you think my names is...Jess?**

**Comments welcome as always. Thank you for the continued support and encouragement. Naomily lives, OK? **


	12. Chapter 12

**Nice to see at least a couple of people are intrigued by the plot twists. Enough for me to go on anyway...**

**Thanks for reviewing, please feel free to carry on doing that!**

**Skins, No. Typo's, Yes. Move along now...**

_**Warning for strong sexual and nonsexual violence in this chapter. Plus a lot of swearing and nasty fuckery. You have been warned...**_

Katie

Its all Emily's fault. Or Mandy...or fucking Marcus...whatever.

I knew it was a bad idea to give in. Fucking threesomes only work out in porn films. Once my now (ex) boyfriend found out I'd done the dirty deed before (Only, getting down and dirty with your mate at Uni is hardly what you'd call serious dabbling) he was all over me for the details, and that skank's phone number. Should have known disaster was just around the corner. Mistaking me for Emily in that restaurant would end up costing us all more than we thought.

I say I've dabbled with other women (not that my confirmed homo sister knows anything about _that_)...OK, I admit it was more than once...what can I say, a girl has needs and that lezzer Sarah was persistent, but waking up with the taste of fanny in my my mouth wasn't a must repeat experience. Not that waking up with sperm as an early morning mouthwash is any better, but at least with late night fellatio, I have an excuse to get up and clean my teeth, guys sort of understand, especially if you offer to kiss them goodnight (!). With girls..or a least with Sarah, she took it as a personal insult if I needed to get her taste out of my mouth straight afterwards. What can I say? I'm not my sister...she probably gargles pure Campbell essence every night before lezzer dream-time.

So...anyway. Despite my feeble protests, I end up in a (OK pretty intense) three way with this ex of Emily and Marcus.

It was OK...just. As long as I am in the middle, I can put up with it. Two mouths on my tits, two sets of hands competing to get me off, and a cock to hold...I've been in worse sexual situations...like this one, for instance, but more about that later. I'm trying to distract myself here. From being locked up in this glorified shipping container, from the sheer terror of what might happen to me soon, and from the disgusting sounds coming from the other end of our prison...but anyway.

The threesome was a one off. Marcus was a bit of a dick anyway...in a long line of my ex dicks, so I dumped him. But Mandy came back for more. And I was stupid enough to let her. I won't say shagging her was unpleasant...far from it. I try not to spend too many milliseconds thinking about my sister actually doing the whole muff diving thing...but if what Mandy brought to the party was normal for her, I can see why Emily was into her before _Saint Naomi_ appeared. Double ended dildos, eye watering sized strap ons, candle wax, handcuffs...she had the full armoury of pro lezzer kit. And she knew how to use it, every last battery powered teaser. I may never ride a horse comfortably again...

So we had a few 'just us girls' sessions and while I was still on the lookout for the next male prospect with a good credit limit, she passed the time OK. Like I said, a girl has needs.

Which is why I'm currently here, tied to a fucking chair, which is playing havoc with my circulation by the way, trying not to listen to Mandy getting group fucked by the goons for about the ninth time since those cunts broke into my flat and kidnapped us both.

I thought at first I was next for our new friends roasting party, after they'd shagged her the first time, but the boss man said no. When he found out me and Ems were twins, he forbade it. Something tells me thats not necessarily a _good_ thing. Twins and horny men only mean one thing...and if I had a fucking fiver for every loser who asked me and my twin for some dual loving, I wouldn't need a boyfriend to fund my shopping habit. Never gonna happen of course. Apart from the fact that she's gayer than a department store window, I would rather die...literally...than do any incestuous muff diving for an audience of one. End of.

But these fuckers, whoever they are, (and I'd like ten minutes in a locked room with whoever buys their wardrobes...shell suits? fuck me, its not 1980, is it?) want me and Ems and presumably Naomi intact. Which probably means we're not going to get gang fucked in this container at least. Unfortunately, they don't feel so protective about Mandy.

When they burst in to my flat, Mandy was near the door. She got one scream off, but it looked like they had done this sort of thing before. I, unfortunately, was tied to the fucking bed with an assortment of scarves waiting for Madam Whiplash to come back to bed and finish me off. Apart from a crafty fondle of my tits when one of them untied me, I got away with no more than harsh language, even when I cracked the cunt in the face with my head. Fitch girls never go easy, right?

Mandy got a slap round the head that put her out cold until we were well on the way here and I got a pad of something over my mouth which sent me to la la land for the duration. In the back of a scummy Transit, would you believe? No class these people. If I was gonna be kidnapped and sent to a brothel, why couldn't it have been Arabs? Better class of cunts all round.

I'm trying to be flippant here, but basically, under this fuck off exterior, I'm microseconds away from shitting myself. Especially after whats just happened. But anyway...

Mandy didn't fare much better when we got here. While laughing boy with the now missing gold tooth (I've got a matching bump on my forehead) tied me to this chair, the other two were already working on Mandy's sexuality issues. I tried not to look, but gang rape isn't easy to ignore, especially if the victim is someone you were shagging yourself recently. She tried to struggle and scream, but I think it just made it more fun for them. Before long, she had learned to just lie there quietly. A cock in each orifice doesn't make for polite conversation anyway...poor bitch.

I got groped a couple of times, when the shift changed (not that there was much difference in the personnel, shell suits, gold teeth, too much cheap aftershave) but the older guy, who looked like the elder brother of the nastiest one, let out a stream of angry insults to the guy with his hand up my dressing gown. I suppose I should think myself lucky to be wearing anything at all by now. Poor Mandy was naked five minutes in and has spent the last few hours skewered by them in tandem...over and over.

They only stopped briefly to use my phone to call Emily. I couldn't figure it out at first. I mean, why not get me to call her? And then they got Mandy to speak into the phone? The fucking goon about to mount her for the third time didn't even pause in his stroke. I dipped my head, but I could hear her pleading.

Animals.

Then I figured it out. They wanted my sister to think it was me getting gang raped. I knew how she would react to that. Unlike Mandy, Emily is 110% lesbian. No dicks, no way, no how. She would be horrified. And if she was horrified...she'd come running. And where she ran, that long streak of peroxide lezzer piss she's besotted with will go too. And that was obviously the plan. The transylvanian terrorists had thought this through.

After what seemed like a lifetime of hearing flesh slapping on unwilling flesh and Mandy cry and moan, I tuned out. It was too painful. I didn't even know her that well, but she is a human being. No one deserved to be treated like that

I heard her quietly sobbing in the corner as the head guy came back to me again. Because I had been out of it during the journey...I think they used some sort of anaesthetic on me and Mandy, I had no idea where we were or how we had got inside this container. It was one of those big metal corrugated boxes you see going to the docks on lorries, I think, although it was covered in bare plywood inside and had some sort of carpet on the floor. There was a scummy mini sink in one corner,,with a big plastic container of water suspended above it. Although it was quite gloomy inside (thank God), there were two battery powered storm lamps at each end. The bed Mandy had been attacked on was inside the double doors at the other end. Then another, smaller bunk to one side, then my chair, which seemed to be bolted to the floor.

I was tied tightly by my hands round the back, and by now, my arms and fingers were tingling with the restricted circulation. I watched the older brother shut the door carefully behind him. The long hinges squealed as he did. He walked over to me, firing off instructions in some fucked up language to his cronies and younger brother. I stared back at him defiantly as he stood in front of me. I might have looked brave but...

He asked another question of his brother and the guy spat back a reply. I'm guessing he was checking I hadn't been touched. Maybe damaged goods go for less, how the fuck would I know?

His face changed from hard implacability to fake concern as he pushed my fringe out of my eyes with big sausage fingers.

"OK?" he said

"Oh fucking _dandy_" I spat "Kidnapped by morons with no fashion sense and questionable hygiene. Watching my friend get raped repeatedly, couldn't want for better really"

He smiled thinly.

"Sparky...I like that" he sneered "My customers will like that too"

He pushed my dressing gown open, revealing both my tits. I glared at him pointlessly.

"Pretty...and firm" he said slowly, cupping one indifferently, like I was a prize fucking heifer or something "Also good. On your own..." he cupped his own chin instead of my tit. "Twenty thousand in Marseille. But twins? And so young...maybe £50,000 the pair"

My expression must have told him how much that horrified me, because he chuckled.

"Oh yes, pretty one. You and your sister will make me lots of money in France. Many rich men will pay much for your...charms..For a while anyway" he finished.

"I'll kill myself first" I said hotly..."No fucking way am I being pimped out by you ugly cunts. Go fuck yourself, you ape...or better still, your mother"

His eyes blazed and I thought for a second I'd gone too far, but then he smiled again.

"Your friend...Naomi? Said something like that recently"

He nodded over his shoulder to where Mandy was crying softly

"That... is whats going to happen to her too. Insulting my mother is very, very dangerous, little one. But I have plans for you twins. You will get to be fucked by lots of nice Arab gentlemen...at least for a few months. When they're tired of you, and you're not so...new...maybe they'll give you both back to me By then you'll be hopelessly addicted to heroin anyway. You won't care much if we fuck you both to death...and we will little one...we will"

He grinned a humourless grin and grabbed his own crotch.

"Think about that...while we wait for your sister and her friend to arrive with our money"

He straightened up again, barking some orders in the same unintelligible stream as before. The two men standing by Mandy nodded and started to pull her upright. She shivered and shook in their grip as if she had a fever Her face was bruised and swollen. Something unspeakable was running down her chin. She looked at me with hopeless eyes and spoke only once.

"Katie...help me?" she said brokenly

I wanted to look away. Her body, once so smooth and unblemished, was covered in livid bruises where she had tried to resist. Her inner thighs were blood stained and there were other...fluids there. She sobbed another incoherent plea for them to stop hurting her, but it seemed playtime was over, even for the two monsters who had been using her over and over all night.

As I watched with unbelieving eyes, the younger brother stepped closer to her and stuck a full syringe into her upper arm. He looked at me coldly as he pressed the plunger.

Mandy flinched when it went in, but within a couple of seconds, her head nodded downwards, she sighed deeply and her eyes rolled up in her head.

"No use to us any more" the head thug said to me casually "Waste of pure heroin, but dead girls don't talk...or fuck"

I opened my mouth to scream then, for the first time. I had just seen a human being brutally murdered by these thugs, with no more emotion than if they were stepping on a cockroach. Now I really was frightened...

XXX

Naomi

Getting us back to London was obviously the priority. I knew now that the money was a side issue. Two million pounds would have been a small price to pay to get us and Katie out of this, but I knew that wasn't the point any more. Probably never had been.

I brought Emily round after she collapsed on the campsite, but hearing Katie scream for her to help her, had totally unnerved her. She just sat with her head in her hands, repeating her sisters name over and over again.

I got JJ on the phone immediately.

He was all business. He told us to stay put, which was never gonna happen, so he eventually reluctantly agreed to us making our way to London. No way was Emily fit for steering that big bike all that way, so I did a quick barter with the son of the campsite owner.

Deal of the century for him. He got a mint condition Silver Wing. We got a battered old green Peugeot 206 with an odd coloured front bumper. At least it had a full tank of diesel. We would do the 350 miles without stopping for a top up, so I didn't try to haggle.

Within 10 minutes, we were pulling onto the A66. On our way to God knows what. Emily just sat beside me, silent and red eyed. Fuck knows what we were heading into...

On the way, I broke the law several times, juggling the phone on one ear whilst driving. Ems was still doing her catatonic impression, looking out of the window with bleak, empty eyes. My heart told me that if Katie _had_ been raped and/or murdered, our little reconciliation was over. No way would I be able to rescue our relationship from destruction if her sisters life was the price Freddie had put on it.

It made me sick to my stomach, every time I imagined what could be happening to her right this minute. God only knows what agonies Emily was enduring. I knew these people were capable of incredible cruelty.

The only good moment of the whole 5 hour journey (I did over 90 mph all the way down, which is testament to the old Pug's endurance and the distinct lack of coppers on the motorway) was when the phone buzzed just north of Watford Gap services. It was JJ.

"Naomi?" he said briskly.

"Tell me something good JJ" I said quickly "Something fucking _good_ mate...we need some happy news amongst all this shit"

"Right" he continued " Good news it is Naomi. The police have picked up another cousin. That leaves the two brothers and one cousin unaccounted for..."

"Only takes one of the fuckers to kill her" I said, then winced when Emily stared at me as if I had grown horns. Stupid fucker that I am. I'm guessing she added that to the list of reasons why having anything to do with me in future...if we actually had a future...was a bad idea.

"I know that Naomi" JJ said patiently "But quite frankly, if they wanted that, it would already have happened"

I shot another sideways look at Ems, but she was now looking out of the side window again.

"They're using her as bait..and so long as they think you're on your way with the money, its in their interests to keep her alive...if a little ….damaged"

I swallowed the curses I was about to send his way. 'A little damaged' is a hell of a way to describe gang rape. I shuddered as I thought about what Katie might be going through...because of me. Indirectly, yes, but still because of me.

"Anyway, thats not all the good news" he carried on "Steve had some very good friends from when he was in the Army. Friends who still work for the government in a sort of...ad hoc way"

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I let him continue uninterrupted.

"And they are _mightily_ pissed off about losing their friend to these peasants. Two are on their way to Tirana as we speak...to have a little 'chat' with the mini godfather. Another three are on their way to Scratchwood Services. Stop there, make yourselves known to them and just let them do their thing. They operate somewhat outside the normal emergency services restraint... Lets just say they're used to unusual situations"

"Yeah...but so was Steve" I said bleakly "And look what happened to him?"

XXX

Pulling in to Scratchwood, it was pissing down with rain, so it took a little while to negotiate through the moronic motorists trying to park in the designated bays, but we finally found a spot away from the actual services, at the back. I always find it nauseating how people try to park no more than 5mm from wherever they are going. God designed legs for a purpose, yes?

But I suppose, as it was literally stair rodding it down, they had a point today. Which made it easier to find an isolated spot. Every other car was scrambling to get within running distance of the entrance. There was only one other car in the line of bays. A Land Rover Defender, black and with its engine running. Call me cynical, but it was the type of brutally efficient truck I could imagine special ops people using.

I love being right most of the time...

As soon as we parked and I turned off the engine, Emily came out of her fugue.

"_Why_ have we stopped?" she said sharply "We're miles from Highbury...get back onto the motorway Naomi...Katie needs us"

"Katie needs us to be smart Ems" I said softly "And JJ says these guys..."

"JJ says lots of things" she choked "And he's been about as much use as a chocolate teapot so far...in case it's slipped your mind _babe_...Freddie and Steve died...and my twin sister is being gang fucked by Albanian gangsters...maybe the coffee and blueberry muffins could wait?"

I winced at the viciousness of her words, and the inflection on the word babe. She hated me, and I didn't blame her one bit.

"Listen Ems...these guys are going to be with us...helping us find her. Going in blind is just what those fucks want. We'd all end up hostages...and that won't help Katie. Please Ems...just lets give them a chance?"

She glared at me for another two seconds before silently nodding. I sighed. It wasn't forgiveness, but it was something.

We got out of the car, and the drivers door of the Landie opened at the same time. A guy with short black hair and a hard face smiled briefly at us before ushering us into the back of the truck. There were no windows. Inside there were two other equally tough looking men, dressed in anonymous grey shirts and trousers. There was also an impressive array of weaponry racked against the front bulkhead. I'm no expert, but I recognise military guns when I see them.

After a short introduction. Mike, Joe and Danny sat back and let me explain what we knew. JJ had filled them in on the facts from his end, but Joe, who turned out to be the leader of this little squad, fired off a lot of pertinent questions about the stuff we had kept to ourselves so far.

Inside 10 minutes they had enough information it seemed, and Joe nodded as if to himself.

"Right, well obviously you two aren't going anywhere near the Albo's. There's no way either of you would get out alive. Short and brutal analysis? Emily, your sisters probably already dead. You two would disappear into the European people trafficking pipeline, so their 'clients' could be entertained for a few months. After that? They'd find you in a Marseille storm drain, full of heroin and Arab cum"

I gasped then. Its not as if I didn't know the likely outcome, but having it spelled out so matter of factly made it even more vivid. Emily dissolved again and I tried to hug her, but she shrugged me off.

"I'm so sorry Ems" I sobbed "So fucking sorry"

She just turned away from me and held her hands over her face.

Even the guys in the truck had the grace to look away. It was obvious Emily was already grieving for her twin. I felt cold...hollow. This was all my fault. Freddie, the lottery win, my stupidity. All my fault. Suddenly, there was nothing left for me to live for. Katie dead, Emily grieving and full of hate for me. I was numb with the horror of what my life had become.

I turned to Joe and tugged his sleeve. He turned to me quizzically.

"Need some air...toilet" I said weakly.

He nodded.

"Just five minutes...then we need to go. OK?"

I nodded back. They let me out of the truck, but stayed inside. The last sound I heard was Emily sobbing, before the heavy black door closed.

The rain was still pelting down, but I didn't feel it. I had something to do, and not long to do it in. Instead of going into the services, I quietly opened the drivers door of the Peugeot and got in. They were all still inside the Landie, so I knew I had seconds to do what I needed to do.

Starting the engine with the car already in gear gave me a start. As I pulled away, I watched the black truck behind me. No sign of movement. The thundering of rain on the other cars roof masked my quiet progress out of the services and back onto the M1.

Five minutes later, just about when they would be starting to worry about me, I was already approaching the signs for Brent Cross. Turning off at the first junction, I started to make my way through the grey and sodden streets to my destination.

Highbury...where I intended to give myself up to the Albanians. It might not save Katie, but it would definitely save Emily. At that moment, it was enough. If there was going to be another death, it wasn't going to be hers...

**And that, my lovelies, is that for this chapter. More later in the week.**

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